Asian stocks up, gold bouncing back in calmer trade

Gold and Asian stocks were on the rebound on Tuesday as trade took a calmer tone after wild swings in metals markets, with the mood helped overnight by a sharp jump in US factory activity. Japan’s Nikkei jumped 2.5% to recoup Monday losses and South Korea’s KOSPI rose 4%. Futures pointed to a recovery in Hong Kong while S&P 500 futures were up 0.3% with traders eyeing a busy few sessions of earnings. Investors were looking ahead to a central bank meeting in Australia later on Tuesday, where a strong jobs market and an unexpectedly hot fourth-quarter inflation reading have the market betting on a 25 basis point rate hike. Australian shares were up 1.3% in early trade and the Aussie dollar , which has been bumpy but logged its largest monthly rise in three years in January, was firm at $0.6958. Gold, silver, stocks and the dollar have all whipsawed since US President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve sent metal prices tumbling.