(Bloomberg) — U.S. stock contracts fell and stocks in Asia fell as investors waited for key data for clues about the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike campaign.
Bloomberg’s Most Read
US stock futures fell as investors awaited Friday’s release of the personal consumption expenditures index, the Fed’s preferred price indicator, which is expected to show acceleration amid strong growth in US stocks. income and expenses.
Euro Stoxx 50 futures pointed to gains after shares were little changed at Thursday’s close.
In Asia, a stock gauge pushed lower and was on track for a fourth straight weekly decline, the longest losing streak since September. Hong Kong-listed technology shares led the slide after results from e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., and analysts remained cautious about the company’s revenue outlook.
Japanese markets were in the spotlight, with data on Friday showing inflation accelerating as the government’s candidate for the next central bank governor faced his first questioning in parliament.
The yen fluctuated against the dollar after Kazuo Ueda told lawmakers he saw inflation peaking. He said the current policy easing was appropriate, but added that the central bank could move towards normalization if stable 2% inflation is in sight.
“Policy normalization is underway at the BOJ, but it will be a very gradual and cautious process, even with a new governor at the helm,” said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets in Singapore. As a result, the yen is likely to trade range bound for now, further buoyed by the direction of the US dollar in general and US bond yields, he said.
The dollar was little changed against most major currencies and the benchmark 10-year Treasury looked set to continue its advance into a third day.
The acceleration shown by the PCE index would add to a series of unfavorable figures that strengthen the case for the central bank to keep rates at 5.25% for some time, according to Anna Wong of Bloomberg Economics. The current benchmark index is in a range between 4.5% and 4.75%.
Investors should still wait for volatility to hit the market as the PCE data comes in, as each data point will be scrutinized, said Altaf Kassam, EMEA head of investment strategy and research at State Street Global Advisors. “But we think the trend is generally favourable. Disinflation is happening, growth has been reasonably strong and we should get out of this without a hard landing,” he said on Bloomberg Television.
Adani’s Reach
The Adani Group will hold a fixed income investor tour of Asia next week. The Indian conglomerate is pushing outreach to investors after its stocks and bonds tumbled following a critical report from short seller Hindenburg Research released last month.
Meanwhile, the German chemical company BASF SE announced that it decided to end a share buyback program ahead of schedule due to profound changes in the global economy.
In commodities, oil extended Thursday’s gain, when it snapped its longest losing streak since December amid strength in commodity currencies and signs of risk appetite. Gold marked higher.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin was on track for its second monthly advance, breaking out of stocks and other riskier assets that have slipped amid renewed concern over rising interest rates. The crypto market rally is recovering only a small part of the ground lost last year, when prices fell and the collapse of the FTX exchange triggered a pushback from investors.
Key events this week:
-
US PCE Deflator, Personal Spending, New Home Sales, University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, Friday
-
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reaches one-year mark, Friday
Some of the main movements in the markets:
Stocks
-
S&P 500 futures were barely changed at 6:31 a.m. London time. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%
-
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%
-
Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.4%
-
Japan’s Topix Index rose 0.7%
-
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.6%
-
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.2%
-
China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.5%
-
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3%
coins
-
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
-
The euro was little changed at $1.0601
-
The Japanese yen was little changed at 134.62 to the dollar
-
The offshore yuan fell 0.3% to 6.9382 per dollar
-
The British pound was little changed at $1.2024
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
-
Bitcoin was little changed at $23,864.07
-
Ether rose 0.2% to $1,649.05
Captivity
raw Materials
-
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $75.99 a barrel
-
Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,825.46 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Rob Verdonck, Richard Henderson, and Matthew Burgess.
Bloomberg Businessweek Most Read
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.