The Israel-Hamas conflict continues to weigh heavily on global markets. That uncertainty transferred to the Asian trading day with both Hong Kong and Tokyo trading down before the Nikkei 225 staged a late recovery at the close while the Hang Seng Index continued slumping. The rising bond yield has increased worries that Federal Reserve interest rates will stay higher for longer, denting the growth outlook. "The rise of the 10-year US bond yield and worries that the Middle East situation may deteriorate continued to weigh on the Tokyo market," Nomura Securities said. Innes said the surge was caused by "growing exhilaration among investors regarding the potential approval of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund".

Source: Daily Nation October 24, 2023 10:30 UTC