Asian markets rise but traders on edge over global outlook

Hong Kong, March 26: Asian markets staged a tentative recovery Tuesday from the previous day's steep losses, with investors increasingly anxious about the state of the global economy.

With a mixed lead from Wall Street, regional traders had few catalysts to drive buying, while safe-haven flows saw the dollar edge up against high-yielding currencies.

Attention is also back on London, where MPs essentially wrested control of the Brexit debate from Prime Minister Theresa May with a vote that will allow them to decide on a number of possibilities for how to proceed.

Investors in Asia were suffering a hangover from Monday's pummelling, which came on the back of a drop in benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yields below those for three-month bills -- for the first time since before the global financial crisis.

This so-called inverted yield curve shows investors are more willing to buy long-term debt -- usually viewed as a higher risk -- as they consider the short-term outlook more hazardous. Such a scenario has preceded several recessions in recent decades.

"Recession worries may be premature for the US, but the negative signals are consistent with the recent data," said OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya.

(AFP/APP)