Stocks were mixed in Asia amid fragile sentiment as investors weighed the impact of Covid infections in China and parsed comments from Federal Reserve officials on interest rate hikes.
(Bloomberg) — Stocks were mixed in Asia amid fragile sentiment as investors weighed the impact of Covid infections in China and parsed comments from Federal Reserve officials on interest rate hikes.
A gauge of Asian equities trimmed earlier gains as equities in Hong Kong and mainland China extended their losses as China’s daily virus infections that climbed to near the highest on record.
Stocks rose in Japan and Australia, while US futures made small gains after technology stocks, which are typically more sensitive to interest rates, had dragged the S&P 500 lower Monday.
Fed officials have broadly maintained their steadfast stance to fight against inflation. Yet San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly also said that officials need to be mindful of the lags in the transmission of policy changes while her Cleveland counterpart Loretta Mester said she’s open to slowing the tempo of rate hikes.
“In a year like this, it is so difficult and often a fool’s errand to read too much into any one speech from one Federal Reserve official,” Sarah Ponczek, financial adviser at UBS Private Wealth Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “The reality is that we do expect that the Federal Reserve is still likely going to raise interest rates again in December.”
The dollar fell after advancing Monday amid appetite for haven assets. Government bond-yield curves flattened in Australia and New Zealand with gains in short-maturity rates, following similar moves in the US Monday. Treasury yields declined Tuesday.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategist Marko Kolanovic, who until recently had been one of the most vocal bulls on Wall Street, said risky assets may languish until the Fed reverses course on its hawkish campaign to raise interest rates. A near-term pivot is likely not in the cards and JPMorgan expects assets to still be “rangebound with a more pronounced downside risk.”
Meanwhile, China reopening may only be a story for the second quarter of next year as the country is entering winter months, according to Dwyfor Evans, head of Asia Pacific macro strategy at State Street Global Markets.
“To actually expect a very conservative political body to suddenly open up China and remove restrictions in November and into the most dangerous season as it were for these type of pandemic instances, we always thought that was very, very optimistic,” Evans said on Bloomberg Television.
Oil steadied around $80 per barrel as investors assessed a clouded supply outlook and concerns over weaker demand in China. Gold rose.
Cryptocurrency prices steadied in a lull from the selloff sparked by the demise of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX empire, but investors are braced for more ructions as further digital-asset sector bankruptcies loom.
Key events this week:
- US Richmond Fed manufacturing index, Tuesday
- OECD releases Economic Outlook, Tuesday
- Fed’s Loretta Mester and James Bullard speak, Tuesday
- S&P Global PMIs: US, Euro area, UK, Wednesday
- US MBA mortgage applications, durable goods, initial jobless claims, University of Michigan sentiment, new home sales, Wednesday
- Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s Nov. 1-2 meeting, Wednesday
- ECB publishes account of its October policy meeting, Thursday
- US stock and bond markets are closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, Thursday
- US stock and bond markets close early, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 11:49 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 fell 0.4% Monday
- Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 fell 1.1%
- Japan’s Topix index rose 1.2%
- South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.2%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1%
- China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
- The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0259
- The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 141.74 per dollar
- The offshore yuan rose 0.3% to 7.1591 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 1% to $15,788.94
- Ether rose 0.7% to $1,101.5
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.82%
- Australia’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 3.60%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% to $80.16 a barrel
- Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,742.89 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Rheaa Rao.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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