INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 per cent to a seven-month high.Asia shares extended their rally on
Tuesday as factory activity surveys from China and the United States boosted investor confidence, triggering the largest one-day sell-off in
the US Treasury market in nearly three months.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 per cent to a
seven-month high after rallying more than one per cent in the previous session.Australian shares gained 0.8 per cent while Japan's Nikkei
advanced 0.4 per cent, extending its gains for a third session.Wall Street shares jumped on Monday, with the SP 500 and Dow Jones Industrial
Average both rising more than one per cent, with the Dow lifted by sharp gains in Caterpillar Inc and Boeing Co.Investors cheered US data
overnight showing improvements in manufacturing activity last month and construction spending for February, which overshadowed an unexpected
drop in retail sales.The upbeat readings added to earlier data showing China's manufacturing sector surprisingly returned to growth for
the first time in four months in March in a sign government stimulus steps were starting to be felt.The rare bright news for the global
economy comes in the wake of persistent worries over cooling demand across the world, with the Sino-US tariff dispute, slowing trade and
corporate profits prompting investors to dump risk assets over the past several months."The market is reacting to the improvement of the
Many investors are buying in anticipation of a rise in shares," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan
Stanley Securities."But thinking about how things really are, at the end of the week (US) jobless claims will be released and it's true
that individual consumption, which accounts for 70 per cent of gross domestic product, hasn't been good
I think that has to be taken into account," Fujito said.The encouraging data on manufacturing activity in the world's two biggest
economies led to a wobbly start to the US bond market, with the US benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields booking their largest single-day
4.The US 10-year Treasury yield overnight jumped to a more than one-week high of 2.502 per cent, moving off a 15-month low of 2.340 per cent
touched on March 25.The rise pushed the yield curve between three-month US Treasury bills and 10-year notes further into positive territory,
after being inverted for a week until last Friday.BREXIT CHAOSIn the currency market, sterling took a knock after British lawmakers came no
nearer to resolving the chaos surrounding the country's departure from the European Union.The British parliament failed on Monday to find
a majority of its own for any alternative to Prime Minister Theresa May's divorce deal."The only sensible thing for Theresa May to do is
to step aside and let someone else take control of Brexit," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets in London."Failure to
chose any of the options on Brexit took the floor under sterling and the currency stumbled like a rock," Aslam said in a note to
clients.Sterling was last down 0.25 per cent at $1.3073, not far from last month's nadir of $1.2945.The euro struggled near a three-week
low of $1.1198 brushed early on Tuesday, and was last trading down a tenth of a per cent at $1.1204.Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was
down a tad at 111.33 yen, but 1.5 per cent above its 1-1/2-month low of 109.70 touched on March 25.Oil prices hovered near their four-month
peaks, after two key benchmarks booked their largest first-quarter gains in nearly a decade on positive signs for the global economy and
tighter supplies.US crude futures traded at $61.92 per barrel, up half a per cent on the day
Brent futures were up 0.4 per cent at $69.28 a barrel.Gold was 0.15 per cent higher at $1,289.10.Get the latest election news, live updates
and election schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on TheIndianSubcontinent.com/elections
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