Asian shares were mixed as US equity futures rose and Treasuries held gains from the prior day as investors weighed signs of cooling in the jobs market and efforts to repair ties between Washington and Beijing.
(Bloomberg) — Asian shares were mixed as US equity futures rose and Treasuries held gains from the prior day as investors weighed signs of cooling in the jobs market and efforts to repair ties between Washington and Beijing.
Hong Kong-listed technology stocks rallied more than 1% Friday and Japanese blue chips traded around 0.5% higher. Mainland China shares fluctuated while Australian and South Korean equities saw small declines.
The advance for tech stocks in the Hang Seng Index was helped along by gains for JD.com, which said its finance chief would take on the chief executive officer role. The e-commerce giant’s shares rose 7%. This followed on from the best session in three months for US-listed Chinese stocks on Thursday.
Geopolitics provided a modicum of support for sentiment, after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi to ease rising tensions between the nations.
“The risk appetite of the stock market is likely to be lifted by the news of US-China meeting,” said Alvin Ngan, an analyst with Zhongtai Financial International Ltd., “Overseas-listed Chinese stocks and Chinese internet sector, of which foreign investors have relatively high exposure, are likely to get a boost.”
US futures rose in Asian trading after the S&P 500 slid 0.2% following jobs and inflation data. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 added 0.3% after Google parent Alphabet Inc. showcased its artificial intelligence tools.
Much uncertainty remains, though, which is encouraging investors to look for hedges against volatility. JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said “we need to finish the bank crisis,” in a Bloomberg Television interview, adding regulators should do “whatever they need to do to make it better.” He predicted more regulations were ahead for lenders.
Investors are digesting news that a meeting between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy set for Friday will be postponed. The delay reflects progress in staff-level discussions, according to people familiar with the talks.
“It would be irrational for the US to not raise the debt ceiling,” Eva Ados, chief investment strategist for ERShares, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “This is a political game and I don’t think the market really pays attention to it.”
Data showed US initial jobless claims reached the highest since October 2021 while producer prices rose 0.2% in April, trailing economists’ estimates for a 0.3% increase. The reports indicate the Federal Reserve’s policy-tightening campaign may finally be having an effect on inflation as the central bank walks a tightrope between reining in rising prices and tipping the economy into a downturn.
Australian and New Zealand bonds climbed after the 10-year Treasury yield fell six basis points on Thursday. The dollar was flat after rising the most in two months in the prior session. Bitcoin slumped to the lowest level since March.
Elsewhere, the Bloomberg Commodity Index is set for its fourth weekly decline on the weak US and Chinese economic data, its longest such streak since September.
Adani Group continues to face problems, with global index manager MSCI Inc. to exclude two of its firms from its India gauge. The pair, Adani Total Gas Ltd. and Adani Transmission Ltd., slid 5%. That’s a blow to the group as it tries to recover from the rout triggered by a short-seller report earlier this year.
MSCI also said 86 securities will be added to its All Country World Index, and 39 deleted.
Key events this week:
- US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
- Fed Governor Philip Jefferson and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard participate in panel discussion on monetary policy at Stanford University, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 1:25 p.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 fell 0.2%
- Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%
- Japan’s Topix rose 0.6%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.1%
- The Shanghai Composite fell 0.4%
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.3%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro was little changed at $1.0924
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 134.56 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.9541 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin fell 1.2% to $26,678.6
- Ether fell 1.7% to $1,766.28
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.37%
- Japan’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.365%
- Australia’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 3.30%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $70.51 a barrel
- Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,011.31 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Peyton Forte, Emily Graffeo, Mengchen Lu and Rob Verdonck.
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