Asian stocks pause rally, risk-off seeps back?

The stocks on the Asian bourses are seen paring early gains as risk sentiment appears to have deteriorated somewhat, after the US dollar and treasury yields retreat.

The resurgence of risk-off sentiment offered some respite to the Japanese currency, which weighs negatively on the exports-oriented stocks, exerting downward pressure on the Japanese indices. USD/JPY drops sharply to 113.60, after having hit fresh eight-month tops at 113.90.

Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a fear gauge, turns positive, suggesting risk-off moods creeping back into markets and hence, drags most Asian indices lower.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 trades +0.26% higher at 18,384, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 trades +0.31% higher around 5,505. The Chinese equities trade mixed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index down -0.15%, while CSI300 index ticks +0.21% higher. Hong Kong markets trade +0.25% around 22,660 levels.