AFP

Asian stocks mostly edged higher on Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street as markets adjusted following a rout this week on higher-than-expected US inflation data.

The data showed US yearly inflation slowing less than expected and monthly inflation rising, stoking fears that the US Federal Reserve would continue its aggressive tightening of monetary policy.

On Thursday, bourses in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta made cautious gains.

Markets in Shanghai and Seoul, however, were down at the close.

European stock markets rebounded somewhat at the open on Thursday.

Analysts said markets were bouncing back from the steep losses that followed the inflation data, and traders were pricing in an expected 75 basis-point interest rate hike by the Fed at a meeting next week.

The release of US producer price data also affected market sentiment, showing costs dropping for the second straight month, mainly driven by falling US fuel prices.

“Stock markets have stabilised a little after Tuesday’s rout which saw risk assets pummelled across the board,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Tokyo — the previous day’s biggest loser in Asia — closed up by 0.2 percent, but investors there remained wary of the speed and degree of future US rate hikes, analysts said.

In Hong Kong, stocks closed 0.4 percent higher on Thursday. 

On Wednesday, Wall Street stocks rose as investors prepared for next week’s Fed decision, with the Dow rising 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 gaining 0.3 percent.

Any US interest rate hike tends to strengthen the dollar, and Asian currencies remain at risk from the strong greenback.

On Thursday, the Australian dollar traded near a two-year low, with the yen at near 143 to the US dollar.

A day earlier, Japan’s central bank conducted a “rate check” operation on the yen, a move seen as a precursor to possible intervention, and which served to bring the currency back from the 145 level that is widely seen as a threshold by the market.

– ‘Front-running’ predictions –

Global consumer prices have soared for months, exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — which has hiked energy and food costs — and because of supply chain strains and Covid lockdowns in China.

Analysts say markets have been trying to “front-run” predictions of when inflation will peak.

“There appears to have been a tendency in recent months to front-run certain releases in the hope that it’s going to prove to be the ‘pivot’ moment when everything starts to look up, central banks can ease off the brake and risk assets will have bottomed,” said OANDA’s Erlam.

All eyes are now firmly on the Fed’s meeting next week, where another 75 basis-point rise is widely expected, after two consecutive increases of the same size.

Following the US inflation data, however, some analysts said it could rise by a full percentage point.

Aggressive interest rate tightening by central banks is slowing down major economies, as authorities attempt to stop them from overheating and tame sharp price rises.

On Wednesday, UK inflation slowed to 9.9 percent in August, but remained close to 40-year highs.

The Bank of England is expected to institute another rate hike next week.

“(The UK inflation figure is) not exactly cause for celebration, nor is it likely the peak, but you have to take your wins where you can these days,” said Erlam.

“The data also won’t in all likelihood change the outcome of the BoE meeting next week, with 75 basis points now heavily backed but 50 also possible.”

– Key figures at around 0800 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 27,875.91 (close) 

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 18,930.38 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,199.92 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.41 percent at 3,582.12

London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 7,324.97

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 13,092.77

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 6,237.99

New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent to 31,135.09 points (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $0.9976 from $0.9972 

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.1521 from $1.1532  

Euro/pound: UP at 86.59 pence from 86.46 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 143.58 yen from 142.20 yen 

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.5 percent at $94.52 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $88.96 per barrel

A company controlled by Malaysian tycoon and Genting chairman Lim Kok Thay has put in a bid for a casino licence in Macau, a surprise challenge to the decades-long oligopoly of the six incumbent operators.

The former Portuguese colony is the only territory in China where casinos are allowed, and issues just six operating concessions for a multibillion-dollar industry that, until the pandemic, was bigger than Las Vegas.

Licences for the current operators — including MGM China, Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment Group — will expire at the end of the year, and they face plummeting revenues and heightened regulatory scrutiny from Beijing.

The six operators all submitted bids by Wednesday to renew their licences but the spotlight was stolen by newcomer GMM.

A GMM representative told reporters that the bid was submitted on behalf of leisure and entertainment firm Genting, according to Macao Daily.

Best known for its resort in the Malaysian highlands, Genting also operates in Las Vegas and Singapore and backed a ski resort in China that hosted this year’s Winter Olympics.

Shares in Macau casino operators fell two percent in Thursday morning trading in Hong Kong, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Macau’s gaming sector has been battered by pandemic-era restrictions that drove away the mainland Chinese gamblers who make up the vast majority of customers. 

Gross gaming revenue was down 98 percent from pre-pandemic levels and fell to a record low in July, officials earlier announced.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has spearheaded an anti-corruption campaign that has seen increased scrutiny of the high-rollers and officials who travel to gamble in Macau, where cases of money laundering are common.

For decades, Macau’s gaming industry was run as a monopoly by casino magnate Stanley Ho, but in 2002 more operators were brought in and issued 20-year concessions as part of a liberalisation effort. 

In January, authorities slashed the concession period of gaming licences from 20 years to 10 and unveiled regulations seeking to increase local ownership and government supervision. 

GMM’s bid adds an element of uncertainty to the sector, which had been dominated by the same big players for decades.

In a research note, JPMorgan Chase analysts argued it was “unlikely” for Macau to prefer a new foreign operator over incumbents who have a track record in investment and local employment.

In January, Genting’s Hong Kong cruise ship operator filed for liquidation after its shipyard in Germany went bankrupt.

Fuel prices in Kenya surged to record highs on Thursday after the new government slashed subsidies, piling on misery for a population already facing deep economic hardship. 

The price of petrol increased by 20 shillings to 179.30 (about $1.50) per litre while diesel and kerosene prices are up by 20 and 25 shillings respectively, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) said. 

The new price regime that will remain in force until October 14 was announced shortly after Kenya’s new President William Ruto took office on Tuesday vowing to scrap food and fuel subsidies. 

“The interventions in place have not borne any fruit,” Ruto said in his inauguration speech. 

Kenya is reeling from the global surge in crude oil prices and last year introduced measures to cushion consumers from the high retail prices. 

It has so far spent 144 billion shillings ($1.2 billion) — about 86 percent of tourism earnings this year — to subside fuel, according to government figures. 

Ruto lambasted the policies of his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta, saying they gobbled up billions of shillings with no impact.

“In addition to being very costly, consumption subsidy interventions are prone to abuse, they distort markets and create uncertainty, including artificial shortages of the very products being subsidised,” he said.

Under the new prices announced by EPRA, the subsidy for petrol has been removed while those for diesel and kerosene have been reduced. 

Kenya is the most dynamic economy in East Africa but many are suffering financial hardship with about a third of the population living in poverty. 

Prices for basic goods skyrocketed in the wake of Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and unemployment remains a major problem, particularly among the young.

Inflation soared to a 65-month high of 8.5 percent in August, while the currency is at record lows at around 120 shillings to against the dollar.

There are fears the new fuel price increases could see public service providers hike fares and further add to cost of living pressures.

Ford unveiled Wednesday its seventh-generation Mustang in a brash and boisterous launch event in downtown Detroit that pointed to the staying power of gasoline-powered vehicles. 

The big reveal had been teased for months by company officials and organized as a celebration of the 58-year-old model. The event, organized for Ford employees and Mustang mavens, featured pulsating music, slickly produced videos on wide screens and a light projection of the brand’s horse logo onto a city building that loomed in the background.

The 50-minute event culminated with the arrival of three sleek new sedans in different trims and, later, a fourth option, a racing vehicle called “Dark Horse” that was introduced dramatically by Ed Krenz, Ford’s chief functional engineer for performance.

“Its name is indicative of its design and its aspirations,” Krenz told a cheering crowd. “Its demeanor: absolutely sinister. Dark Horse is for the enthusiast who wants purebred force of nature.”

Ford, which has dived into EV investment as much as any company in recent years, had refrained ahead of Wednesday from saying whether the new Mustang would be electric or gasoline-powered.

But the company made no apologies for its choice to go with the internal combustion engine (ICE).

“Investing in another generation of Mustang is a big statement at a time when many of our competitors are exiting the business of internal combustion vehicles,” said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company in a press release, adding that the company is “turbocharging” ICE growth even as it invests $50 billion in EV growth through 2026.

Mustang brand manager Jim Owens said some customers prefer the “visceral” feeling of an ICE vehicle, adding that the company has already released an EV version of the Mustang, the Mach-E sport utility vehicle.

“We know that there are customers out there in the sports car segment who still want the internal combustion engine,” he told AFP in an interview before launch.

“There are a lot of late millennials and early Gen Zers who are into the sports car segment, and we think we have some wonderful things in here that are going to draw them in,” he said.

– Rival muscle cars exit –

The latest Mustang — once the inspiration for a Serge Gainsbourg song and seen in some 3,000 movies — features a “fighter jet-inspired” interior and performance features that make it “the most exhilarating and fun-to-drive yet,” Ford said.

The newest Mustang nods to earlier versions in its lighting and grille design, while also employing the latest in digital technology. This includes a key fob that lets drivers who love the sound of an engine revving satisfy their fix with the press of a button.

By extending the Mustang’s run, Ford runs counter to some other brands such as Dodge, which in August said it was phasing out its gasoline-powered muscle car models, the Challenger and the Charger.

Ford’s vehicle launch event also harked back to the spectacle of past car shows, even though the industry has been moving away from that marketing model in favor of online launches. 

The Detroit Auto Show of yore was known for stunts such as the 1992 arrival of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which announced itself by crashing through glass.

For Wednesday’s Mustang launch, Ford organized a “Stampede” of earlier Mustangs that caravaned from around the country to Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit, creating an impressive row of Mustangs that went on for blocks. 

Participants were encouraged to participate in a best-dressed contest of “attire inspired by their favorite period in Mustang history, from the 1960s through today,” with the first-place prize a two-year car lease for a new Mustang.

The event also appeared to be intended as a morale boost for “Motor City,” where the auto show has been revived for the first time since 2019 after pandemic cancellations. Presenters repeatedly acknowledged the contribution of local Ford employees, especially at the nearby Flat Rock Assembly Plant, where the Mustang is built.