Asian stocks fail to overcome US-China jitters amid few catalysts
|- Asian equities flash losses fearing the worst of US-China tussle is yet to come.
- Media reports downplay impacts of the Hong Kong Act on the phase-one deal.
- A lack of major data/event adds to the market’s extension of the previous risk-off.
Asian stocks flash negatives with the MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares (ex-Japan) marking near 1.30% of loss by the press time of pre-European session on Friday.
The reason could be fears of the worst to come after China warned to blacklist the writers of the Hong Kong Human Rights Democracy Act. Even so, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published a story citing no change in sentiment concerning the trade deal between the United States (US) and China.
Not only MSCI’s broad equity gauge but markets in Japan, India, China and Hong Kong also keep the red. Japan’s NIKKEI loses 0.5% while Chinese stocks are near a 1.0% loss. Further, Hong Kong’s HANG SENG becomes the biggest loser with -2.21% on the face of its while writing whereas Indonesia’s IDX Composite bucks the trend with a gain of 0.72%. With this, the US 10-year Treasury yields cling to 1.77% by the press time.
Moving on, Korea’s KOSPI losses 1.40% after the Bank of Korea (BOK) held monetary policy unchanged while India’s BSE SENSEX drops 0.80% as markets anticipate a 26 quarter low of Indian growth figures, up for publishing at 12:00 GMT. Additionally, Australia and New Zealand seem to have flashed mixed results on the back of early-day second-tier economic data at home.
The economic calendar has fewer catalysts, except from India, Germany and Eurozone, while the half trading session in the US could also restrict today’s market volatility.
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.