Asia Eyes Steady Open, Bonds Up Amid Taper Debate: Markets Wrap

Asia Eyes Steady Open, Bonds Up Amid Taper Debate: Markets Wrap
Andreea Papuc
·3 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks are poised for a steady open Thursday, following gains for U.S. shares and Treasuries as the Federal Reserve minutes showed policy makers still awaiting more evidence of economic strength to determine a timeline for tapering asset purchases.

Futures pointed slightly lower in Japan and higher in Australia, and were little changed in Hong Kong. U.S. contracts were stable after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both closed at all-time highs. Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields fell for a seventh trading day, dipping briefly below 1.3% for the first time since February, as expectations for an inflationary rebound continued to fade.

The Fed minutes indicated officials weren’t ready to communicate a schedule for scaling back their bond-buying program, due to high uncertainty over the course of the recovery. They did, however, want to establish a plan in case a move is needed sooner.

The dollar held gains against a basket of major currencies. Oil pared losses as investors await further signals from the OPEC+ alliance on production plans after a breakdown in talks.

Central bank plans for their emergency-mode policy settings globally remain critical to the market outlook, especially the fate of the Fed’s $120 billion in monthly bond purchases. In Europe, policy makers agreed to raise their inflation goal to 2% and allow room for an overshoot when needed, according to officials familiar with the matter -- which could give more scope for sustaining ultra-loose policy for longer. Meanwhile, China flagged the possibility of a reserve requirement ratio cut to help the economy.

“I think the Goldilocks scenario will last for quite a while,” Belita Ong, chair of Dalton Investments, said on Bloomberg Television. “We are at a point where the central banks all over the world have very much a desire to keep interest rates low and fortunately we have not seen any long-term significant signs of inflation.”

For more market commentary, follow the MLIV blog.

Here are some events to watch this week:

The Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers meet in Venice on FridayChina PPI and CPI data released on Friday

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were steady as of 8:23 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%Nasdaq 100 futures inched up. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%Nikkei 225 futures were down 0.3%Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures rose 0.2%Hang Seng Index futures were little changed

Currencies

The Japanese yen was at 110.61 per dollarThe offshore yuan was at 6.4743 per dollarThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changedThe euro traded at $1.1796

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 1.32%Australia’s 10-year bond yield fell three basis points to 1.36%

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude was at $72.25 a barrelGold was at $1,803.07 an ounce

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting

Recommended Stories

  • These Are The Best Robinhood Stocks To Buy Or Watch Now

    Buying a stock is easy, but purchasing the right stock without a proven strategy is incredibly hard. Here are the best Robinhood stocks to buy now.

  • British Columbia’s AAA Rating Is Stripped by S&P on Rising Debt

    (Bloomberg) -- British Columbia lost its top credit rating from S&P Global Ratings, which said provincial debt will rise sharply over the next few years because of the economic shock of Covid-19.Canada’s third-largest province will run a deficit this fiscal year that’s “significantly larger” than expected when the pandemic began, which will likely lengthen the time to return to fiscal balance, S&P said in a statement Wednesday explaining the one-notch downgrade to AA+. The move comes less than t

  • Xiaomi Seeks Up to $1 Billion in Dollar Bond Sale

    (Bloomberg) -- Xiaomi Corp. sold $1.2 billion of debt through a dollar bond deal offered to global investors as Chinese technology companies face fresh scrutiny in an new era of tighter oversight from Beijing.The smartphone giant’s sale included a $400 million 30-year green bond tranche in a rare sustainability offering from the nation’s tech firms. The other part of the sale was an $800 million 10-year bond. The borrower had received a sale quota of $1.2 billion from China’s National Developmen

  • JPMorgan Bosses See Banks’ Long Trading Slump Gone for Good

    (Bloomberg) -- Before 2020 unleashed a windfall for Wall Street traders, life in the business kept getting harder as revenue weakened. Now, as the flurry of pandemic activity fades, the question is whether the decade-long slide will continue.The answer is no, according to Daniel Pinto, who oversees JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s massive Wall Street operations.The industry’s collective revenue from trading -- its “wallet” -- probably reached its nadir before Covid-19, he said in an interview. And from th

  • ECB Agrees on New Inflation Goal of 2%, Will Allow Overshoot

    (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank policy makers have agreed to raise their inflation goal to 2% and allow room to overshoot it when needed, according to officials familiar with the matter.The decision marks a significant change from the previous target of “below, but close to, 2%,” which some policy makers felt was too vague. The consensus emerged at a special meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday to conclude the ECB’s first strategy review in almost 20 years.The revamped strategy could give offic

  • Robinhood IPO faces threat of retail snub on Reddit

    Online brokerage Robinhood Markets Inc, which helped enable the "meme stock" frenzy earlier this year and later attracted flak for its handling of the trading mania, is facing pushback on social media forums against its initial public offering. Many individual investors are planning to shun the stock market debut, and several posts in recent days urging users to not buy into the IPO have received thousands of upvotes, discussions in online forums on Reddit showed. "Just ignore the Robinhood IPO entirely," said a post on the r/Superstonk subreddit, which also advised traders to transfer out to Fidelity's trading platform.

  • Oil drops sharply after OPEC cancels meeting

    Oil prices tumbled on Tuesday in a volatile session after OPEC producers canceled a meeting when major players were unable to come to an agreement to increase supply. Brent crude settled down $2.63 a barrel, or 3.4%, to $74.53, after hitting a session peak of $77.84, its highest since October 2018. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled down $1.79, or 2.4%, to $73.37 after touching $76.98, highest since November 2014.

  • President Biden's Job Approval Slides, Honeymoon Appears Over: IBD/TIPP

    President Biden's job approval rating fell in a new IBD/TIPP Poll. His honeymoon may be over amid fading support for his economic policies.

  • Nintendo Stock Soared During the Pandemic. It Just Got a Downgrade.

    Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal downgraded Nintendo shares to Hold from Buy, citing its launch of a less-significant upgrade to its Switch mobile console.

  • Market Correction On The Way For US Equities, Experts Say

    After a year of unrelenting climbs, market experts are finally claiming a peak on a roaring market. Market strategists from Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup said recently that despite a...

  • Garcia, Wiley concede in NYC mayoral race

    Eric Adams has won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. and his top opponents, Kathryn Garcia and Maya Wiley have conceded the race. (July 7)

  • Coca-Cola (KO) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

    In the latest trading session, Coca-Cola (KO) closed at $54.32, marking a +0.82% move from the previous day.

  • Oil prices end sharply lower as traders await next move in OPEC standoff

    Oil futures end lower Wednesday, under pressure after a news report indicates the United Arab Emirates is eager to grow market share as a standoff continues between it and fellow OPEC members over a proposed output rise.

  • Here are four reasons the West is headed for a ‘very drastic crisis,’ according to a veteran economist

    The excess in financial markets will have to unwind in a drastic manner, warns one veteran economist.

  • Top Analysts See Strong Upside for These 3 Beaten-Down Stocks

    We’ve all heard the market cliché to buy low and sell high as the key to making money. And if you can pull it off, it works. The key to success, of course, is finding the stocks that are currently trading low – but are primed for gains. This implies a profile. We’re looking for stocks with a combination of depressed share prices and recent Buy ratings from top analysts. Using TipRanks platform, we identify three stocks that fit. And better yet, their average upside potential for the next year ra

  • 3 Under the Radar Penny Stocks With Triple-Digit Gains in Sight

    Let’s take a look away from the headline-grabbing market giants, and head into the world of penny stocks. Traditionally, these were stocks priced at just pennies per share – that’s the old English copper penny, when it was 240 pence to the pound – but nowadays the ‘pennies’ are stocks with share prices under $5. The penny stocks offer retail investors a series of advantages, all connected. Their low price makes the cost of entry to the market affordable – a relatively small investment can net a

  • Cathie Wood Is Buying These Top Growth Stocks -- and Both Could Make You Rich

    Cathie Wood has recently become a household name for many stock pickers. Cathie Wood invests with a long-term mindset, focusing on innovative technologies rather than short-term catalysts. CEO Elon Musk has long said that manufacturing efficiency would be one of Tesla's greatest advantages, and now the company has data to back that bold claim.

  • Don't Wait for the Market Crash to Buy This Dividend Stock

    This landlord was hit hard, but it's already showing signs of an important business upturn. If history is any guide, now is the time to act.

  • Dispatch from Bangalore

    A startup founder, who hasn’t had much sleep all week, woke up on a recent Sunday to a phone call from his co-founder. For the founder, who had several calls scheduled with many high-profile Silicon Valley investors later in the day, talking this developer out of leaving the job quickly became the top agenda item for the rest of the weekend. There’s a joke among many startup founders in Bangalore that hiring two to three engineers is currently more time-consuming and cumbersome than securing a fresh round of funding.

  • 2 Top Growth Stocks to Buy Right Now

    Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner has often said: "Winners keep on winning." In other words, don't be afraid to buy a stock just because its share price has appreciated significantly -- those stocks can still be great places to put your money.