Asian stocks and US futures edged higher as investors brushed aside the Federal Reserve’s commentary against interest-rate cuts and looked ahead to an eventual pivot to policy easing.
(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks and US futures edged higher as investors brushed aside the Federal Reserve’s commentary against interest-rate cuts and looked ahead to an eventual pivot to policy easing.
An Asia-wide gauge of equities was on course for its best day in about three weeks, helped by an advance in Hong Kong shares. Stocks in mainland China whipsawed as they resumed trading after a three-day break, while Australian and South Korean shares trimmed early declines.
Contracts for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were moderately higher after a drop on Wednesday, when the turmoil in US regional banks added to market volatility.
The moves followed a 25 basis-points increase from the Fed and comments from Chair Jerome Powell that opened the door for a pause in June but played down the prospect of rate cuts later in the year — a scenario firmly reflected in market pricing.
Australian bonds rose following gains in US Treasuries, although trading for the latter was closed in Asia due to a holiday in Japan. The yen extended a rally against most of its Group-of-10 peers, while the Bloomberg dollar index fell for a third day. Oil retraced some of the losses it made earlier this week when concerns over global growth weighed on the commodity.
US regional lender PacWest Bancorp slumped 60% in US postmarket trading Wednesday, reigniting bank stability fears after people familiar said the Beverly Hills-based company had been weighing a range of strategic options, including a sale.
“The tightening in credit conditions will put some significant downward pressure on the economy,” Michelle Girard, head of US for NatWest Markets, said on Bloomberg Television. “You will see the Fed in a position to move policy to a less restrictive stance sooner than what the Fed chairman today was suggesting.”
The rate debate will resume again later Thursday, with the European Central Bank taking center stage. Policymakers are seen raising the deposit rate by a quarter-point to a 3.25%, which would mark a slowdown in their hiking cycle. The decision is expected at 2:15 p.m. in Frankfurt, followed half an hour later by President Christine Lagarde speaking at a press conference.
Read More: Wall Street Greets ‘End of the Hiking Cycle’ With More Questions
“Potential Fed pause, but no Fed pivot yet,” said Jason Pride at Glenmede. “The Fed is telegraphing that additional monetary tightening may or may not occur, but rate cuts do not yet appear to be on the table. The Fed’s leadership is working hard to thread the needle between telegraphing too much tightening while also not agreeing with the market’s rate cut narrative.”
Key events this week:
- US initial jobless claims, trade balance, Thursday
- European Central Bank rate decision, followed by ECB President Christine Lagarde’s news conference, Thursday
- US unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 12:39 p.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 fell 0.7%
- Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1%
- The Shanghai Composite rose 0.6%
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.1%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
- The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1081
- The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 134.53 per dollar
- The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 6.9052 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 1.8% to $29,036.33
- Ether rose 1.4% to $1,900.13
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined nine basis points to 3.34% on Wednesday
- Australia’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 3.34%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $68.75 a barrel
- Spot gold was little changed
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Rita Nazareth.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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