By Alun John

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – Asian shares saw a continuation of their gains in Friday’s Asian share market, but trading was slow due to hawkish U.S. monetary policies, changes in Chinese economic policy and continuing ructions on commodity markets as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

MSCI’s largest index of Asia-Pacific shares other than Japan was flat last week, however it is up 1% this week.

The stock market was little affected, closing the day at an all-time high of nine weeks.

Hong Kong shares fell 0.5% on the benchmark. Tech stocks were also a factor, with renewed worries that U.S. dual-listed names could be subject to a dispute over audit records, which would lead them to leave the United States.

Australian stocks rose 0.4% due to the miners and Chinese blue chips fell 0.4%

In Asia, we saw asset prices stabilize a little this week after last week’s Chinese vice prime minister’s speech. Although this may not last unless there is more easing or better regulatory visibility, it seemed to have had the desired effect of limiting the downside risks,” stated Carlos Casanova (senior Asia economist, UBP).

“Though, what we’re starting to notice is a little less caution from global Investors when it comes to U.S. Economy and what that means to Asia,” he said.

Liu He, the vice president of China, said last week that Beijing would support the Chinese economy. This will send Chinese and Hong Kong stock prices higher at first.

Investors also waited to see if the Bank of Japan would purchase Japanese government bonds, JGB (Japan Government Bonds), as it was facing pressure to meet its yield targets.

On Friday, the yield of 10 year JGBs rose by 0.235%, surpassing the level at which BOJ was offering to purchase an unlimited number of JGBs for 0.25% on February 10. This is part of a strategy to keep interest rates low.

Japanese bond yields have been pulled higher by U.S. Treasury Yields. These yields have increased along with the expectation of a faster pace for rate increases by U.S. Federal Reserve.

Last Tuesday, the U.S. 10 Year Notes yielded just 2.3681%, just 0.417% off Tuesday’s 22 month high.

Charles Evans, Chicago Fed President, is the latest U.S. policymaker who has become more hawkish. On Thursday, Evans stated that the Fed should raise interest rates this year and 2023 “in a timely manner” to stop high inflation.

The impact of divergence between U.S. monetary policy and Japanese has had a negative effect on the yen. The dollar rose 0.41% further to 121.84yen on Friday. This is a multi-year high. The Japanese currency is being affected by higher commodity prices due to the conflict in Ukraine. Japan imports most of its energy.

However, the dollar has not seen dramatic gains in comparison to other currencies. The U.S. currency index against six peer currencies is slightly lower at 98.536.

The three major U.S. stock indices rose more than 1% overnight as investors bought up shares in chipmakers and other big growth companies, and were supported by falling oil prices. [.N]

Futures traded at 0.1% higher in the early Asia region.

As the United States and its allies looked at releasing additional oil from their tanks to cool markets, oil continued to fall. Prices fell by 0.2% to $118.77 a barrel and 0.5% down to $111.74, although they are still quite high by historical standards. [O/R]

The price of gold remained high at $1961.9 per ounce (up 0.22%). ()