Asian equity futures pointed to a mixed start for the region’s stocks Tuesday after US shares eked out small gains as traders weighed the outlook for interest rates and debt-ceiling talks.
Contracts for Japanese stocks edged up while those for Australia and Hong Kong pointed lower. The S&P 500 ended the day fractionally higher after jumping 1.9% Friday to halt its longest losing streak since February.
Treasuries declined as investors considered what it would take to finally reverse the Fed’s path on rates after a survey of loan demand showed signs of credit tightening. Bond trading desks were also bracing for as much as $35 billion of corporate debt sales volume this week while Apple Inc. kicked off a $5.25 billion sale.
Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 opened slightly lower in Asia. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 had advanced 0.25% as AI-capable chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Nvidia Corp. rose alongside Google-parent Alphabet Inc.
The greenback was little changed in early Asian trading after a gauge of the dollar rose 0.1% Monday. It erased losses after the Fed’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey signaled that the credit market was tightening slightly while business loan demand was weakening.
In the US, consumer-inflation data Wednesday may provide further clues on the Fed’s path as well set the tone for equities.
US interest-rate strategists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. joined those at Barclays Plc in advising customers that the central bank will be less aggressive in cutting rates this year than markets are predicting.
Attention in Asia will turn to Chinese trade data, and to Australia, where the government is headed for its first budget surplus since 2008. Windfall tax revenue from high employment and elevated commodity export prices combine to swell the government’s coffers.
Elsewhere in markets, oil fell slightly after gaining Monday as investors assessed a complex outlook for global demand after a period of volatile trading. Bitcoin held below $28,000.
Key events this week:
- US President Joe Biden scheduled to meet with congressional leaders on debt limit, Tuesday
- New York Fed President John Williams speaks to Economic Club of New York, Tuesday
- US CPI, Wednesday
- China PPI, CPI, Thursday
- UK BOE rate decision, industrial production, GDP, Thursday
- US PPI, initial jobless claims, Thursday
- Group of Seven finance minister and central bank governors meet in Japan, Thursday
- US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
- Fed Governor Philip Jefferson and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard participate in panel discussion on monetary policy at Stanford University, Friday.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% as of 7:33 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 was little changed Monday
- Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.25%
- Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.3%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures fell 0.1%
- Hang Seng Index futures fell 0.2%
Currencies
- The euro was little changed at $1.1002
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 135.06 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.9208 per dollar
- The Australian dollar was unchanged at $0.6782
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $27,641.3
- Ether rose 0.3% to $1,846.24
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to 3.51%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $72.94 a barrel
- Spot gold was little changed
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
--With assistance from Emily Graffeo, Isabelle Lee and Cristin Flanagan.
