Asian equities hold ground as Japan bond jitters ease; Wall Street up in early trade

[SINGAPORE] Asian equity markets remained on a stable footing on Wednesday (Jan 21), with most regional indices holding on to their year-to-date gains, as the sell-off in long-term Japanese government bonds eased after the previous day’s spike.

In Asia, analysts expect spillover effects from the recent slump in the world’s third-largest debt market to be “limited”, noting that most Japanese government debt is held domestically and that intervention by local banks is likely.

Later on Wednesday, investor focus shifted to US markets as President Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.