HONG KONG, April 19 ― Asian shares traded cautiously today, with investors weighing China's measures to cushion an economic slowdown and the prospect of aggressive Federal Reserve monetary policy tightening.

Investors are also bracing for a barrage of earnings that will help them assess the impact of the Ukraine war and a spike in inflation on company financials. Netflix, Tesla and Johnson & Johnson are all to report this week.

Moscow has refocused its ground offensive in Ukraine's two eastern provinces but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to fight on.

Early in the Asian trading day, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.5 per cent while US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were up 0.2 per cent.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.66 per cent, as strong commodity prices lifted mining and energy stocks, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.18 per cent.

China's blue-chip index was 0.06 per cent higher in early trade while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.24 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index opened down 2.4 per cent, pressured by a slump in tech giants listed in the city amid China's latest regulatory crackdown on the sector.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on Friday it would cut the reserve requirement for all banks by 25 basis points (bps), releasing about 530 billion yuan (RM353 billion) in long-term liquidity to cushion a slowdown.

Investors, however, felt the smaller-than-expected cut might not be enough to reverse a sharp slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy that could significantly affect global growth.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) yesterday beat analysts' expectations with a 4.8 per cent increase in the first quarter from a year earlier, while data on March activity showed weakness in consumption, property and exports affected by Covid-19 curbs.

Analysts said the key question was whether authorities would make adjustments to the tough anti-Covid-19 measures.

"We expect more policy support, mainly in the form of more infrastructure investment, stronger credit growth, and easier property policy. But we do not see the government undertake 'whatever it takes' to achieve the 5.5 per cent growth target, nor shift the Covid policy soon," said Wang Tao, Head of Asia Economics and Chief China Economist of UBS Investment Bank Research.

Wall Street ended the day lower in a choppy trading day yesterday, as investors contrasted Bank of America's positive quarterly earnings with surging bond yields ahead of further earnings cues this week.

A significant cut to global growth expectations from the World Bank, paired with March weakness in China's latest economic numbers injected some pessimism into US markets, which opened yesterday following a holiday-shortened previous week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.11 per cent, while the S&P 500 .SPX dipped 0.02 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.14 per cent.

Markets were closed yesterday in Australia, Hong Kong and many parts of Europe for the Easter holiday.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was last at 2.845 per cent, after previously hitting 2.884 per cent earlier yesterday, the highest since December 2018, as investors adjusted for the Federal Reserve to raise rates by 50 basis points at its May and June meetings to contain rapid inflation.

The two-year yield, which rises with traders' expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 2.4459 per cent compared with a US close of 2.46 per cent.

The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's value against six major currencies, was up at 100.88 after surging to 100.86 yesterday, the highest since April 2020.

Oil prices were slightly lower today, after having been boosted by concerns over tight global supply amid the Ukraine crisis in the previous sessions.

US crude dipped 0.57 per cent to US$107.59 a barrel. Brent crude fell to US$112.7 per barrel.

Gold prices steadied today, after getting within a stone's throw of the key US$2,000 per ounce level in the previous session.

Spot gold traded at US$1,977.18 per ounce. ― Reuters