Asian Stock Market: Trades higher amid corporate earnings optimism, yen at four-year lows

• Asian stocks pull up the sleeves on Wednesday tracking higher Wall Street.
• Higher corporate earnings, rising energy prices, and supply chain constraints book traders' diaries.
• IMF downgrades’ Asia pacific economic forecast, comments on Evergranda’s risk soothes investor nerves.

Asian stocks edge mostly higher on Wednesday, following the positive cues from the overnight gains on Wall Street as traders rejoice higher US corporate earnings. However, investors remain concerned about weaker global growth recovery amid supply chain disruptions.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed its Asia-Pacific growth outlook for 2021 and warned that supply chain bottlenecks, inflationary pressures amid higher energy prices pose downside risks. Nevertheless, it raised the economic growth outlook for 2022.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.03%.

The Shanghai Composite Index is trading down 0.3%, following a downward revision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for China’s 2021 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 8% from 8.4% as recovery remained uneven.

The Nikkei 225 index gained  0.7%, tracking better-than-expected export data.

The ASX 200 traded higher 0.7% on Wednesday,  Hang Seng hitting a 5-week high at 26,109.

The US Treasury yields rise higher at 1.65% with more than 1% gains.