Asian equities edged lower, continuing two weeks of heightened volatility that inflicted losses on hedge funds and caused strategists across Wall Street to cut their forecasts for US stocks. A gauge of regional shares erased gains at the open and dropped 0.4% in afternoon trading. Futures contracts for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.8% while those for the S&P 500 fell 0.6% after cooler-than-forecast US inflation helped lift stocks Wednesday. Treasuries edged higher and a gauge of the dollar strength was little changed. The gyrations in stocks underscore the uncertainty that has gripped investors amid frenzied selling in the last two weeks as higher unemployment rate and federal workforce job cuts raised the prospect of a slowdown in growth in the US. President Donald Trump’s escalating tariff war and global geopolitical realignment over Ukraine added to concerns with some investors considering moving investments from the US. Equity strategists have recently tempered their expectations about the US market. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. became the latest to sound the alarm, following those at Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc. Earlier this week, Citi downgraded US equities to neutral from overweight while upgrading China to overweight. The renewed volatility is because of “late realization by the markets that one soft CPI print may not change the Fed’s trajectory right away,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. “Growth scare at this point is a bigger concern that is not relieved, only enhanced, by a softening inflation print,” she said. In US political news, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said his party would block a Republican spending bill to avert a government shutdown on Saturday and urged the GOP to accept a Democratic plan to provide funding through April 11 instead. Hong Kong’s stock market has turned into one of the biggest winners of Trump’s chaotic first 50 days in the office. The city’s Hang Seng benchmark has surged 21% since Trump assumed the presidency, making it the world’s top performer. The city’s stock exchange is discussing options to lower the threshold for investors to buy some of the city’s most expensive stocks to stoke trading, according to people familiar with the matter. Risk appetite is still intact among investors, but there is a “deeper desire to allocate outside of the US,” Kamal Bhatia, chief executive officer at Principal Asset Management told Bloomberg Television. “We have observed that a lot of capital wants to find pockets in the Asia Pacific region,” Bhatia said. Still, some strategists think a bottom for US stocks is “probably” here. The worst of the US equity correction may be over, with credit markets indicating a lower risk of a recession happening, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
If US equity exchange-traded funds continue to see mostly inflows, “there is a good chance that most of the current US equity market correction is behind us,” JPMorgan strategists including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou and Mika Inkinen wrote in a note. On tariffs, Trump said the US would respond to the European Union’s countermeasures against his new 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, raising the risk of further escalation in his global trade war. Earlier, Canada announced new 25% tariffs on about $20.8 billion of US-made products, including steel and aluminum, after the Trump administration went ahead with global levies on imports of the two materials. In Asia, the yen strengthened against the dollar. Bank of Japan officials see several reasons against intervening in the bond market even after benchmark yields hit the highest level since 2008, according to people familiar with the matter. Japanese government bond futures fell as Bank of Japan’s Governor Kazuo Ueda told the country’s parliament that he expects real wages and consumer spending to improve as import inflation subsides while robust wage gains continue.
In commodities, gold rose and was trading above $2,940 per ounce. Oil fell Thursday after the biggest gain in two weeks. US After Hours INTC +10.8% after naming Lip-Bu Tan as CEO; ADBE -3.7%, PATH -16.6%, S -13.4%, AEO -5.4% lower on earnings; ATEN -10.6% lower on convertible offering
Nikkei -0.08% Hang Seng -0.99% CSI -0.47% Shanghai -0.52% Shenzen -1.20%
Eur$ 1.0879 CNH 7.2435 CNY 7.2423 JPY 147.57 GBP 1.2953 CHF 0.8815 RUB 87.1044 TRY 36.60 WTI$ 67.48-0.33% Gold 2,938+0.09% BTC 83,020 -0.10% ETH 1,863 -1.47%
S&P -0.44% Nasdaq -0.75% EuroStoxx -0.17% FTSE -0.02% Dax -0.17% SMI -0.09%
Macro :
- Hedge Funds Shift to Unwind Positions in Asia, Goldman Says
- Worst of US Equity Correction May Be Over, JPMorgan Team Says
- Worst of US Equity Correction May Be Over, JPMorgan Team Says
- Yardeni Cuts S&P 500 Target, Citing Rising Risk of Stagflation
- SpaceX Delays Launch of Mission to Bring Stuck Astronauts Home
- $86 Billion Trade Data Gap Shows Tariff Could Hurt: China Today
Keep an eye on :
Keep an eye on :
- ABI BB : *BUDWEISER APAC TO CUT THOUSANDS OF JOBS TO REDUCE COSTS BY 15%
- ACLN SW : Accelleron Sees 2025 Oper Ebita Margin 25% to 26%
- AIR FP : Taiwan’s EVA Air to Buy 9 More Airbus Jets in $3.1b Deal
- BABA US : Alibaba Unveils AI Agent App in Race to Keep Up With Rivals
- ANIM IM : Banco BPM Takeover Bid on Anima May Start Next Week: Ansa
- BMW GY : BMW to Absorb Tariff Costs On Mexican-Built 3 Series Sedans -- WSJ
- BWO NO : BW Offshore Signs Deal to Sell FPSO BW Pioneer for $125M
- ATD CN : Couche-Tard Rules Out Hostile Takeover of Japan’s Seven & i
- CVC NA : Piraeus Bank Agrees to Buy 90% of Ethniki Insurance From CVC
- ROO LN : Deliveroo FY Adjusted Ebitda Meets Estimates
- DOCM SW : DocMorris AG FY Ebitda Loss CHF43.9M; Capital Increase
- ENX FP : Euronext to Buy Admincontrol for Ent. Value NOK4.65B
- FRA GY : Fraport Feb. Frankfurt Airport Passengers -0.1% Vs. -3.1% M/M
- GALAP BB : Montea to Join BEL 20 Index, Galapagos to Leave
- G IM : Generali Boosts Dividend With Key Shareholder Meeting Looming
- G IM : Generali Boosts Dividend With Key Shareholder Meeting Looming
- GXI GY : Warburg Pincus, KKR Are Said in Talks to Buy Gerresheimer
- GLJ GY Grenke 2025 Net Income Forecast Misses Estimates
- HNR1 GY : Hannover Re FY Dividend per Share Beats Estimates
- BOSS GY : Hugo Boss 2025 Sales Forecast Misses Estimates
- IFCN SW : Inficon Sees 2025 Operating Margin About 20%, Est. 20.7%
- IMRN SW : Interroll FY Total Sales Meet Estimates
- ITGR US : Integer Said to Offer Up to 2.125% Coupon on Convertible Bonds
- INTC US : Intel Rises After Naming Lip-Bu Tan Chief Executive Officer
- 3382 JP : Artisan Urges Seven & i Investors to Hold Leadership Accountable
- SDF GY : K+S Sees 2025 Ebitda EU500M to EU620M, Est. EU545.1M
- MC FP : Bernard Arnault’s Son to Lead Loro Piana in Fresh LVMH Reshuffle
- MRN FP : Mersen s'attend à voir le ralentissement de ses marchés peser sur ses résultats en 2025
- TIGO US : Millicom Offers to Buy Remaining 32.5% of Coltel
- MINT TB : Thai Hotelier Plans US Expansion to Cash In on White Lotus Craze
- MLP GY : MLP Sees 2025 Ebit EU100M to EU110M, Est. EU101.3M
- MONT BB : Montea to Join BEL 20 Index, Galapagos to Leave
- NEOLA SS : Neola Medical Offering of 7.8m Shares Prices at SEK2.50/Share
- PHARM NA : Pharming 4Q Revenue $92.7M Vs. $81.2M Y/y
- 1913 HK : -3.70% in HK
- RHM GY : Rheinmetall CEO Says VW Car Plant Suitable for Defense Output
- RIEN SW : Rieter FY Ebitda Beats Estimates
- 1010 HK : Samsonite to Progress With US Listing Amid Global Slowdown
- SREN SW : Swiss Re Proposes Dividend of $7.35/SHR, an 8% Increase
- TEF SM : Millicom Offers to Buy Remaining 32.5% of Coltel
- TSLA US : Tesla pins hope on refreshed Model Y to regain share after sales dive in China
- TOM NO : Euronext Oslo Says Schibsted to Join, Tomra to Leave OBX Index
- TRN LN : Trainline FY Net Ticket Sales Miss Estimates
- UCG IM : UniCredit Gets Insurance Regulator Approval for Banco BPM Bid
- UQA AV : Uniqa FY Net Income Beats Estimates
- VLTSA FP : Voltalia FY Net Loss EU20.9M, Est. Loss EU2.43M
- VPK NA : Vopak Plans €1B Additional Investments in Gas, Infrastructure
- VOW GY : VW’s Cariad Software Unit Aims to Cut About a Third of Staff (1)
- VOW GY : Rheinmetall CEO Says VW Car Plant Suitable for Defense Output
- FHZN SW : Zurich Airport Feb. Passenger Traffic +0.9%