Stocks: Asian markets relieved from heavy selling pressure
Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) at the PSE Tower in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. (The Enquirer Photo/Grigg C. Montegrande)
HONG KONG – Asian markets enjoyed some much-needed gains on Thursday, facing a troubled week so far, lifted by bargaining sentiment, positive gains from New York and Europe, and further pledges of economic support for China’s economy. .
However, traders are on high alert over a range of crises from the Ukraine war, rising inflation, central bank monetary tightening and the Chinese COVID-19 lockdown.
The ongoing earnings season has seen a mixed bag of weight on tech firms, though there was some excitement on Wednesday from a forecast-beating reading by Facebook parent Meta, which analysts said could bring some relief to the sector. Apple and Amazon are due out later this week.
Traders also took heart from a report by state broadcaster CCTV which said officials had promised to pursue more policies to increase employment.
It cited Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday as saying that stabilizing the jobs market was an “important support” to keep economic growth within reasonable limits.
The comments come as unemployment has soared in recent months due to lockdowns in major cities including Shanghai, which have been put in place to fight the Covid outbreak but have hit the economy and threatens global growth.
Beijing’s top officials have made several announcements in recent weeks to lift sentiment. Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for an “all-out” campaign to build infrastructure, while the People’s Bank of China has cut the amount of cash reserve to banks to free up funds for lending.
And Vice Premier Liu He pledged to stabilize the stock market and support foreign stock listings.
But investors are skeptical as officials have not given anything concrete on the policy front so far, with analysts saying the major hurdle for equities is their refusal to budge from their campaign to eradicate Covid.
Hong Kong and Shanghai were up in early trade, while Tokyo, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta also gained.
However, Rodrigo Catril of National Australia Bank said, “risk assets in general still need to navigate the consequences of increasingly more aggressive policy hardening by many central banks.”
“China’s zero-Covid policy remains in place and the prospects of a protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict over energy prices and energy supplies do not bode well for Europe in particular.”
And Kate Moore at BlackRock told Bloomberg TV: “The uncertainty factor is some of the highest we’ve seen in the past several years.
“There’s a lot of crosscurrent. And against that background, it’s hard to see volatility decreasing so dramatically.”
Markets are gearing up for next week’s major event, the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, where it is expected that interest rates will rise by half a point and will signal a further big hike through the year as it tackles runaway inflation. Fights to keep it under control.
The prospect of rising borrowing costs has propelled the dollar against its peers, sitting at a 20-year high against the yen as Japan maintains an ultra-lax monetary policy.
The greenback on the euro is also at a five-year high as the European Central Bank refuses to comply with the hawkish Fed, while the single currency is also weighed down by fears over the economy as Russia cuts energy supplies to parts of the continent. cuts in. ,
0230 GMT. key figures on
Tokyo-Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent, at 26,548.82 (break)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent 20,108.73 . Feather
Shanghai – Overall: UP 0.6 percent 2,976.73 . Feather
Brent North Sea crude: down 1.0 percent to $104.27 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent to $101.06 a barrel
EUR/dollar: down from $1.0556 to $1.0535 late Wednesday
pound/dollar: down from $1.2533 to $1.2543
Euro/Pound: Down from 84.14 pence to 84.06 pence
Dollar/yen: UP from 128.43 yen to 128.67 yen
New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 33,301.93 (close to)
LONDON – FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent (closer) at 7,425.61
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