(Bloomberg) — Shares in Asia were mixed Wednesday after a decline in US stocks and the price of oil signaled unease about the dimming outlook for the global economy. Treasuries, the dollar and the yen all stabilized after rallying Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) — Shares in Asia were mixed Wednesday after a decline in US stocks and the price of oil signaled unease about the dimming outlook for the global economy. Treasuries, the dollar and the yen all stabilized after rallying Tuesday.
Stocks in Australia advanced while a benchmark of Japanese shares fell to the lowest level in more than two months. Equity futures for Hong Kong rose and contracts for the S&P 500 fluctuated after the index fell 0.4% Tuesday, weighed down by energy and tech stocks.
The Australian 10-year yield fell 7 basis points and the 10-year Treasury yield steadied after its biggest decline in more than a month. The dollar and yen traded flat after each jumping Tuesday. The price of oil price arrested its biggest fall in more than a month.
Recession concerns lingered, with former New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley saying that an imminent slowdown won’t be severe while investors continue to mull the impact the central bank’s tightening will have on the economy. They’ll be paying attention to the jobs report this week, as softening in the labor market remains the Fed’s focus.
“What worries the markets going into the year is how deep the recession is likely to be,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA, said on Bloomberg Television. “I think very few people believe we will miss a recession altogether, especially when we have such an inverted yield curve and now are expected to fall into an earnings recession.”
Investors were also focused on China with fledgling signs Covid infections may have peaked in some of its biggest cities. Anecdotal evidence showed the country remained in the grip of the pandemic with crematoriums overwhelmed in large cities such as Shanghai.
The prospect of a rapid reopening of China’s economy after the dismantling of Covid Zero policies may fail to materialize, according to Chris Senyek, chief investment strategist for Wolfe Research.
“In our view, there’s still a massive amount of uncertainty there, and whenever growth does begin to re-accelerate, inflation headwinds are more likely than not to offset global growth tailwinds,” he said in a note.
Read More: China Vows to Hit Back at Nations Imposing Covid Travel Curbs
The main markets moves are:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:32 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 fell 0.4%
- Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%
- Hang Seng futures rose 0.5%
- Japan’s Topix fell 1%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.3%
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0559
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 131.03 per dollar
- The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 6.9165 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin was little changed at $16,666.9
- Ether rose 0.3% to $1,214.08
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 3.75%
- Australia’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 3.93%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3% to $77.14 a barrel
- Spot gold was little changed
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee.
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