Stocks in Asia rose, supported by a continuing rally in Japanese shares. Oil climbed on Mideast tensions. An Asian equity gauge rose 0.5% as the Nikkei 225 advanced more than 1%, on track for the biggest weekly increase since March 2022. Shares in China and Hong Kong fluctuated, while South Korea’s and Australia’s declined. US equity futures slipped after Wall Street benchmarks ended Thursday little changed, as solid inflation data failed to tame bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
US consumer price index data showed headline prices increased more than expected in December, while core inflation fell — although less than consensus estimates. Swaps pricing for a cut by March increased slightly on the day, back toward levels seen at the end of 2023. China’s consumer prices fell for a third straight month in December, a sign of weak domestic demand. That may justify the need for China’s central bank to cut a key policy rate and pump more cash into the financial system on Monday. West Texas Intermediate rose more than 2% to above $73 after the US and its allies launched joint military strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen following their attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The news of airstrikes also pushed gold and stocks of Asian shipping companies higher. Commodity-linked currencies benefited from the rise in crude oil, with the Australian dollar and Norwegian krone seeing modest gains. Bloomberg’s gauge of the dollar dipped, suggesting global traders were mostly unfazed by the escalation. In Asia, Japan’s November current account balance came in below forecasts. Also, the country’s benchmark two-year government bond yield dropped to zero for the first time since August and an auction of 30-year sovereign bonds saw weaker demand than expected amid speculation the Japanese central bank will tweak its monetary policy at a meeting this month. Treasuries were tad lower Friday after the 10-year yield fell six basis points on Thursday and the policy-sensitive two-year yield dropped by around 11 basis points. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester pushed back against the prospect of a March rate cut and said the inflation figures showed policymakers had further work to do. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo recommends investors should start positioning for a sudden risk-off move as markets are too optimistic the Federal Reserve will cut in March. Elsewhere, more than $4 billion of shares traded between the 11 US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds on Thursday following Securities and Exchange Commission approval for the funds. Bitcoin was steady near $46,000. US After Hours BBCP +3.9% up on earnings; PSNY +0.5% modestly higher on Q4 deliveries.
Nikkei +1.50% Hang Seng -0.26% CSI -0.22% Shanghai -0.03% Shenzen -0.53%
Eur$ 1.0952 CNH 7.1705 CNY 7.1625 JPY 145.13 GBP 1.2777 CHF 0.8522 RUB 88.7053 TRY 30.0922 WTI$ 73.55 +2.11% Gold 2,036 +0.36% BTC 46,250 +0.20% ETH 2,618 +0.56%
S&P -0.12% Nasdaq -0.07% EuroStoxx +0.85% FTSE +0.40% Dax +0.07% SMI +0.31%
Macro :
- Goldman’s Rubner Says Brace for Dip-Buying Competition in Stocks
- US Beige Book, ECB Minutes, China GDP: Global Week Ahead
Keep an eye on :
Keep an eye on :
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