Asian equities were poised for a subdued open Wednesday after stocks were little changed on Wall Street as investors weighed earnings and comments from Federal Reserve officials who favor continued rate hikes.
(Bloomberg) — Asian equities were poised for a subdued open Wednesday after stocks were little changed on Wall Street as investors weighed earnings and comments from Federal Reserve officials who favor continued rate hikes.
The S&P 500 fluctuated before ending just 0.1% higher while the Cboe Volatility Index hit its lowest since January 2022, remaining below 17. Futures for Hong Kong’s share benchmark fell 0.3%, those for Australia were up 0.1% and contracts for Japan were little changed.
Two-year US yields, which are more sensitive to imminent policy moves, ended unchanged at 4.20% while the rate on ten-year bonds edged down to 3.58%.
Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic told CNBC that he favors raising rates one more time and then holding them above 5% for some time to curb inflation. His St. Louis counterpart James Bullard separately told Reuters that he favors getting rates into a 5.5% to 5.75% range. The benchmark currently sits between 4.75% and 5%.
On the earnings front, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fell as its results showed traders failed to capitalize on Wall Street’s fixed-income boom, contributing to firmwide revenue that trailed estimates.
Bank of America Corp. rose after profit beat expectations. Western Alliance Bancorp shares surged as much as 20% after it beat earnings estimates and said deposits recovered after the collapse of three regional banks.
In late trading, Netflix Inc. retreated as its subscriber growth and revenue outlook missed projections.
“It’s so early in the reporting season, it’s really hard to make too much out of what’s going on,” said Tony Roth, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust. More regional banks are due to report results in the coming days and weeks, and “that will give us a better sense of how they’re doing.”
Elsewhere in markets, Bitcoin held near the closely watched $30,000 level. Oil remained little changed early Wednesday as the bullish impetus from OPEC+ production cuts faded against a backdrop of weaker-than-expected demand. Gold halted a two-day losing streak Tuesday.
Key events this week:
- Eurozone CPI, Wednesday
- Fed releases Beige Book, Wednesday
- Fed’s John Williams gives a speech, Wednesday
- Fed’s Austan Goolsbee is interviewed on NPR, Wednesday
- China loan prime rates, Thursday
- Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
- US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, index of leading economic indicators, Thursday
- ECB issues report on March policy meeting, Thursday
- Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks at cryptocurrency-focused event, Thursday
- Fed’s Patrick Harker speaks on “monetary policy and housing”, Thursday
- Fed’s Loretta Mester discusses the economic and policy outlook, Thursday
- Fed’s Raphael Bostic discusses regional and national economic conditions, Thursday
- Fed’s Michelle Bowman and Lorie Logan speak at event, Thursday
- PMIs for Eurozone, Friday
- Japan CPI, Friday
- Fed’s Lisa Cook discusses economic research at an event, Friday
Some of the main moves in the market:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% as of 7:24 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% Tuesday
- Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
- Hang Seng futures fell 0.3%
- S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.1%
- Nikkei 225 futures were little changed
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% Tuesday
- The euro was little changed at $1.0975
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 134.06 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8798 per dollar
- The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6729
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin was little changed at $30,393.13
- Ether was little changed at $2,093.72
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 3.58% Tuesday
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
- Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,005.45 an ounce Tuesday
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Sujata Rao.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.