Asian Stock Market: Trades mixed as recovery hopes lack fresh push
|- Asian equities seesaw near record top amid quiet trading.
- RBA’s status-quo, repeat comments fail to entertain Aussie markets, Chinese policymakers eye Friday’s annual parliament meeting.
- South Korea’s KOSPI benefits from stimulus headlines, Brazilian covid variant joins cautious sentiment ahead of key events to probe risks.
- Powell’s speech, Aussie GDP and covid aid package news will be crucial ahead of Friday’s US NFP.
Asian equities copy macro moves while portraying a sluggish session during Tuesday. The risks fizzle early-week optimism amid a lack of major data/events, except for a non-event RBA, as well as fears of the coronavirus (COVID-19) variant from Brazil. It’s worth mentioning that the hopes of stimulus from the US and the UK keep market players positive despite eagerly waiting for the outcome.
Against this backdrop, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 drops 0.81% by press time.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reiterated readiness to keep the benchmark interest rates unchanged, also gain cited employment fears, while keeping the policy rates and 3-year yield targets unchanged. With this, Australia’s ASX 200 reverses the mild gains portrayed during early Asia with 0.15% losses by press time.
US President Joe Biden’s pick for the US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai conveyed the typical American bias for China and hence policymakers from Beijing may discuss how to respond to that during Friday’s annual parliamentary meeting. With this, Chinese stocks are mildly offered ahead of the European session.
New Zealand’s NZX 50 seems to cheer bearish bias from RBNZ assistant governor Christian Hawkesby whereas South Korea’s KOSPI becomes the region’s biggest winner, up over 1.5% currently as the government announced an extra budget and the Korean Markit Manufacturing PMI also rallied in June.
Elsewhere, Indonesia’s IDX Composite prints mild gains whereas Hong Kong’s Hang Seng contradicts over +1.0% gains by India’s BSE Sensex.
On a broader front, S&P 500 Futures reverse the initial gains with 0.30% intraday losses while the US 10-year Treasury yields currently decline 3.0 basis points (bps) to 1.41%.
Given the lack of major data/events on the calendar, except for German Retail Sales and Canadian GDP, risk news will be the key for markets ahead of Friday’s US employment figures for February.
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers.