SINGAPORE, Oct 25 — Equities in Asia tracked gains in US shares on optimism in the world economy and encouraging earnings reports that buoyed the dollar and lifted government bond yields.

Japan’s stocks opened higher with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average poised to extend gains for a 17th session. Profit at Caterpillar Inc, a bellwether for global growth, reinforced the view that the international economic expansion is the most synchronized since the start of the decade.

Alongside solid manufacturing readings from Europe, Japan and the US, that pushed 10-year Treasury yields to 2.42 per cent and lifted the greenback to the highest level since July.

More indications of broadening global growth are coming as the Federal Reserve and other central banks start to pull back on emergency monetary stimulus. The European Central Bank is expected to announce a reduction in the size of its monthly stimulus spend at its policy meeting Thursday, the biggest scheduled event for markets this week.

In the US, an intensifying war of words between President Donald Trump and Republican US Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee has muddied the prospects for tax reform. In a speech highly critical of Trump, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake announced he wouldn’t seek re-election to his Senate seat, raising further uncertainty about the overhaul’s fate.

In China, the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, China’s supreme political body, will be revealed on Wednesday following the 19th Party Congress. Investors will scrutinize the appointments for hints at policy approach.

These are some of the key events coming up:

Australia updates on third-quarter inflation this morning, a key reading for the monetary policy outlook. South Korea reports on GDP and Hong Kong on imports and exports, while Japan reports on CPI later in the week.

The US economy probably expanded at about a 2.5 per cent annualised pace in the third quarter, restrained in part by the effects of two hurricanes, economists forecast the government to report on Friday. Companies reporting earnings this week include Alphabet Inc, Microsoft Corp. and Twitter Inc in the technology sector.

Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen AG and Boeing Co headline cars and planes. Coca-Cola Co and brewer Heineken NV join European banks including UBS Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Plc. The week also boasts rate decisions from the Bank of Canada, Norges Bank and Riksbank.

And here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Japan’s Topix index and the Nikkei 225 each climbed 0.4 per cent as of 9:13 a.m. in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.1 per cent as did South Korea’s Kospi index. Hang Seng Index futures gained 0.5 per cent. Futures on the S&P 500 Index slid 0.1 per cent. The gauge climbed 0.2 per cent yesterday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.7 per cent to a record high.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady after climbing 0.3 per cent to the highest in almost 15 weeks yesterday. The yen traded at 113.91 per dollar.
The euro traded at US$1.1761 (RM4.98) after increasing 0.1 per cent yesterday. The kiwi bought 69.05 US cents. It’s dropped to the lowest since May amid concern economic growth will be constrained under Prime Minister-elect Jacinda Ardern.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.41 per cent. It climbed five basis points yesterday to 2.42 per cent, the highest in about seven months. Australia’s 10-year yield gained 4 basis points to 2.81 per cent.

Commodities

Gold was little changed at US$1,276.30 an ounce. It fell 0.4 per cent in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$52.44 a barrel following an advance of 1.1 per cent. — Bloomberg