Shares in Asia are primed for a steady opening while US equity futures fell after stocks closed little changed on Wall Street and a gauge of volatility slid to the lowest level in more than a year.
(Bloomberg) — Shares in Asia are primed for a steady opening while US equity futures fell after stocks closed little changed on Wall Street and a gauge of volatility slid to the lowest level in more than a year.
Contracts for benchmarks in Japan and Australia were incrementally lower while those for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose slightly. The cautious mood in the US pushed the CBOE VIX index of volatility to the lowest since 2021. A Bank of America global measure of volatility spanning stocks, rates, currencies and commodities sits at the lowest level since early 2022.
The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury rose five basis points to the highest level in a month. The Federal Reserve said in its monthly Beige Book survey that the US economy was “little changed” but had begun to show signs of slowing. Trader bets continue to lean toward a rate hike next month.
First-quarter US earnings were mixed. Tesla Inc. missed profit expectations while International Business Machines Corp. and Morgan Stanley beat forecasts.
In Asia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. earnings will be in focus. Analysts expect the chip giant to post weak results and will focus on full-year revenue guidance.
Banks in China are set to keep the loan prime rates on hold, after the People’s Bank of China stayed put, according to analysts. Australia will release the findings of an independent review of the country’s central bank that is set to recommend the creation of two separate boards — one for monetary policy and the other for governance.
Elsewhere in markets, the dollar was steady after rising Wednesday. Bitcoin dropped below $30,000. Oil fell while gold declined below $2,000 an ounce.
Key events this week:
- 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 0.2% as of 7:28 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 was little changed
- Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 was little changed.
- Nikkei 225 futures fell 0.1%
- Hang Seng futures rose 0.4%
- S&P/ASX 200 futures were little changed
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
- The euro was little changed at $1.0956
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 134.71 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8943 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $29,198.97
- Ether fell 0.3% to $1,974.68
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 3.59%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% to $79.16 a barrel
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.