Stocks Steady as Traders Await Fed; Crude Oil Dips: Markets Wrap

Stocks Steady as Traders Await Fed; Crude Oil Dips: Markets Wrap
Andreea Papuc
·3 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks were steady Wednesday as traders mulled another all-time high for U.S. equities and a retreat in short-term sovereign yields ahead of the Federal Reserve policy decision.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Stability in iron-ore prices bolstered commodity-exporter Australia, while shares in China and Hong Kong fluctuated. Japan is shut for a holiday. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed following fresh peaks for U.S. shares. Wall Street has been buoyed by the resilience of company profits to rising input costs amid pandemic-related supply chain and labor disruptions.

A gauge of the dollar held a climb. Cash Treasuries won’t trade in Asia because of the Japan holiday. U.S. Treasury two-year yields overnight joined a global slide in short-term rates that was unleashed by the Australian central bank’s dovish stance. Australian sovereign yields declined.

In China, Premier Li Keqiang said the economy is facing new downward pressure. Investors are monitoring a coronavirus outbreak in the world’s second-largest economy that has already sparked mobility curbs. The debt challenges in the nation’s property sector also rumble on.

The gyrations in short-term yields extend a period of heightened bond-market volatility as investors try to anticipate how hawkish central banks might become to quell inflationary pressures. The Fed is expected to announce that it will start tapering its massive bond purchases, but economists are divided on whether a rate liftoff will be next year or in early 2023.

“The big question will be whether they will signal anything about when the rate hikes will start,” Jeanette Garretty, chief economist at Robertson Stephens Wealth Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “I think they are going to try and avoid that.”

Elsewhere, oil fell as the U.S. increased pressure on OPEC+ to boost supplies. Bitcoin was around $63,000 amid a rally in cryptocurrencies.

Here are some events to watch this week:

  • Fed rate decision, U.S. factory orders and durable goods, Wednesday

  • OPEC+ meeting on output, Thursday

  • Bank of England rate decision, Thursday

  • U.S. trade, initial jobless claims, Thursday

  • U.S. unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday

For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • S&P 500 futures were flat as of 10:40 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%

  • Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4%

  • Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.4%

  • South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.3%

  • Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.2%

  • China’s Shanghai Composite Index was steady

  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures added 0.1%

Currencies

  • The Japanese yen was at 113.93 per dollar

  • The offshore yuan traded at 6.3992 per dollar

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady

  • The euro was at $1.1582

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.55% Tuesday

  • Australia’s 10-year bond yield fell six basis points to 1.83%

Commodities

  • West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5% to $82.65 a barrel

  • Gold was at $1,784.51 an ounce, down 0.2%

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©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

  • Democrats Reach Deal on Drug Prices, Schumer Says. Pharma Stocks Are Steady.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the deal, which would allow Medicare to negotiate on drug prices, on Tuesday.

  • China's Oct services activity expands at faster clip - Caixin PMI

    The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 53.8 in October - the highest since July - from 53.4 in September. The improved readings in the private survey, which focuses more on small firms in coastal regions, stood in contrast with an official survey, which showed the expansion in the services sector lost some steam. Analysts say the services sector, which has been slower to recover from the pandemic than manufacturing, is more vulnerable to sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks in the country, clouding the outlook for the much anticipated rebound in consumption in the months to come.

  • Korea’s Largest Payments App More Than Doubles in Debut

    (Bloomberg) -- Kakao Pay Corp., South Korea’s largest mobile payments app, more than doubled in its debut in Seoul, following a rocky path to public markets that was marked by heightened regulatory scrutiny. Most Read from BloombergSupply Chain Crisis Risks Taking the Global Economy Down With ItInto the Metaverse: Where Crypto, Gaming and Capitalism CollideAtlanta’s Crowded Election Pits Former Mayor Versus ‘Anyone But’China’s Climate Goals Hinge on a $440 Billion Nuclear BuildoutBallot Initiati

  • Yahoo Pulls Out of China, Following LinkedIn in Cutting Ties

    (Bloomberg) -- Yahoo, the dot-com pioneer that’s now part of Apollo Global Management Inc.’s media empire, is getting out of China because of the mounting hurdles to doing business in the country. Most Read from BloombergSupply Chain Crisis Risks Taking the Global Economy Down With ItInto the Metaverse: Where Crypto, Gaming and Capitalism CollideAtlanta’s Crowded Election Pits Former Mayor Versus ‘Anyone But’China’s Climate Goals Hinge on a $440 Billion Nuclear BuildoutBallot Initiatives to Watc

  • Hong Kong in Final Talks on Opening China Border, Sing Tao Says

    (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong is in advanced discussions with Chinese officials about reopening their shared border, local media reports, a major breakthrough on reviving travel exchanges crucial to the Asian financial hub’s economy.Most Read from BloombergSupply Chain Crisis Risks Taking the Global Economy Down With ItInto the Metaverse: Where Crypto, Gaming and Capitalism CollideAtlanta’s Crowded Election Pits Former Mayor Versus ‘Anyone But’China’s Climate Goals Hinge on a $440 Billion Nuclear Bui

  • FOMC preview: Can the Fed avoid spooking markets as it readies a taper?

    “I do think it’s time to taper, and I don’t think it’s time to raise rates,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Oct. 22.

  • US STOCKS-Wall Street mints record highs, helped by strong earnings; Fed up next

    The S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched record closing highs for a fourth straight session, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its third straight record close and ended above 36,000 for the first time. "From a fundamental perspective, there is a strong underpinning for the performance of the broad equity market complex," said Bill Northey, senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 138.79 points, or 0.39%, to 36,052.63, the S&P 500 gained 16.98 points, or 0.37%, to 4,630.65 and the Nasdaq Composite added 53.69 points, or 0.34%, to 15,649.60.

  • 5 Best Chinese Stocks To Buy And Watch

    Hundreds of Chinese companies are listed on U.S. markets. But which are the best Chinese stocks to buy or watch right now? Sohu, Nio, and Li Auto, Xpeng and BYD Co.. China is the world's most-populous nation and the second-largest economy with a booming urban middle class and amazing entrepreneurial activity.

  • Rate differentials set to gently jostle strong U.S. dollar: Reuters poll

    The dollar's performance against major currencies will be mixed as investors are expected to favour those carrying higher interest rates in both the short and medium-term, a Reuters poll of FX strategists found. Calls for tighter monetary policy to tame inflation running at multiyear highs in the United States and elsewhere have prompted money markets to bring forward rate hike expectations, and are now at odds with central banks' own projections.

  • Michigan football still critical of refs after MSU game, still sticking with 2 QB system

    Free Press sports writer Michael Cohen shares the most notable parts of coach Jim Harbaugh's weekly news conference.

  • Buy These 2 Stocks Before They Jump Over 100%, Says Oppenheimer

    What happens when headwinds meet tailwinds? In meteorology, head-on collisions of opposite air masses gives birth to thunderstorms; add some Coriolis force, and the storm becomes cyclonic. As historian Bruce Catton once described such action, in a political context, ‘tornado weather: sultriest and most menacing.’ But it seems, for now, that we’ve missed that bullet. As Oppenheimer’s chief investment strategist John Stoltzfus writes, “While economic data continues to show persistently high levels

  • Zillow to stop flipping homes for good as it stands to lose more than $550 million, will lay off a quarter of staff

    Zillow Group Inc. is calling it quits on the home-flipping business, while disclosing losses of more than $550 million on sales this year for which the company paid too much.

  • 1 Red-Hot Semiconductor Stock That Just Crushed Earnings

    Semiconductor shortages have dominated headlines in the business world this year. Manufacturers of consumer goods across the globe are struggling to meet their production targets because they can't get their hands on enough computer chips. New cars are one enormous source of demand for semiconductors, especially with the growth of electric vehicles, and dealer lots are currently running on a fraction of the inventory they need to meet demand.

  • Caesars stock drops after surprising loss, but recovers after moving up plans to sell a Vegas casino

    Caesars Entertainment Inc. reported a surprising loss Tuesday, sending shares lower in after-hours trading, but the stock rebounded after executives outlined plans to reduce a massive debt load that include the sale of a Las Vegas casino.

  • Cathie Wood Goes Bargain Hunting: 3 Stocks She Just Bought

    Cathie Wood likes to hit the new trading week running. The ARK Invest CEO added to some of her positions on Monday. Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ: ZM), Toast (NYSE: TOST), and Genius Sports (NYSE: GENI) are three stocks (down 45%, 25%, and 13% from their highs, respectively) that found their way into Wood's buy orders.

  • Charlie Munger Stock Portfolio: 10 Biggest Positions

    In this article, we discuss the 10 biggest positions in the Charlie Munger stock portfolio. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of these stocks, go directly to Charlie Munger Stock Portfolio: 5 Biggest Positions. Charlie Munger is a name in the finance world that is often associated with Warren Buffett, one of the […]

  • Lucid Group Is an Investment, Not a Trade, and Will Seriously Challenge Tesla

    Lucid is probably technologically superior to Tesla, with smaller, more efficient, more powerful battery packs with a greater range.

  • Zillow stock dives after analyst highlights two-thirds of homes bought are underwater

    Shares of Zillow Group Inc. took a dive Monday, after KeyBanc analyst Edward Yruma highlighted how most of the homes the real estate services company purchased, with an aim to flip them, were now worth less than what they paid for them.

  • 10 Monthly Dividend Stocks With Over 5% Yield

    In this article, we discuss the 10 monthly dividend stocks with over 5% yield. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of dividend investing and these stocks, go directly to the 5 Monthly Dividend Stocks With Over 5% Yield. Dividend investing is an attractive strategy for those investors who wish to retire comfortably or […]

  • A former Goldman Sachs boss says millennials were right to splurge their stimulus checks on crypto and meme stocks, and to stick it to Wall Street

    Raoul Pal noted that the Occupy Wall Street movement fell on deaf ears, and young investors don't care what the establishment says.