Bitcoin price hits 17-month high on prospects of crypto ETF

Asia stocks fell on Tuesday as elevated US Treasury yields and continued conflict in the Middle East weighed on markets.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.5 per cent, while China’s CSI 300 dropped 0.4 per cent, Japan’s Topix shed 0.8 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.5 per cent.

The 10-year US Treasury yield fell back on Monday after rising above 5 per cent for the first time in 16 years, continuing the recent sharp swings in global bond markets.

Yields, which move inversely to price, were little changed on Tuesday in Asian trading, adding 0.01 percentage points to 4.84 per cent.

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday continued a run of unscheduled purchases of government bonds in an attempt to control a jump in yields as investor expectations rise for a further policy revision next week. 

On top of its scheduled daily bond-buying operations of 10-year notes, the central bank offered to buy ¥300bn ($2bn) in bonds of five- and 10-year maturities and ¥100bn in bonds with maturities of 10 and 25 years. 

Following the announcement, the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell about 0.01 percentage points.

Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat and foreign minister, will travel to the US from Thursday to Saturday to meet secretary of state Antony Blinken, the state department said on Monday evening.

The trip is scheduled about three weeks before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco and potential talks between US president Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Blinken and Wang “will discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues as part of ongoing efforts to responsibly manage the US-China relationship and to maintain open channels of communication”, the state department said.

Events: Chinese premier Li Qiang attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The three-day Future Investment Initiative opens in Riyadh to showcase new technology companies.

Economic indicators: October purchasing managers’ indices for Australian and Japanese manufacturing and services are scheduled. South Korea issues producer price index data for September. The Bank of Japan releases core consumer price index figures for last month.

Corporate data: China National Offshore Oil Corporation and China Unicom present third-quarter earnings, as does South Korean steelmaker Posco. In Japan, Yokohama-based confectionery chain Fujiya and Osaka-based equipment maker Shimano also report third-quarter figures. 

The British government’s flagship bill to shake up the housing rental market came under fire on Monday from the opposition, who said plans to end “no-fault” evictions in England were likely to be delayed for years pending glacial reforms to the courts.

Ministers confirmed last week that part of the law to prevent landlords from throwing out tenants without giving a reason would not be enforced until there had been adequate changes to the court system.

Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, said the government had “betrayed renters” by striking a “grubby deal with Tory backbenchers”, adding that the decision to await court reforms kicked the removal of no-fault evictions “into the long grass”.

The United Auto Workers expanded their strike on Monday, with 6,800 workers walking out of Stellantis’s biggest US truck plant.

The Sterling Heights assembly plant in Michigan, which the union said is the company’s “largest plant and biggest moneymaker,” manufactures the Ram 1500.

The UAW has been on strike against the Detroit carmakers since last month, walking out of plants one by one to keep the companies off balance and preserve the strike fund. The union went on strike at Ford’s Kentucky truck plant — its most profitable…