Asian equities fluctuate; yuan, yen in limelight: markets wrap

Traders continued to parse hawkish comments from central bankers that point to higher interest rates, and to position portfolios for the end of the quarter.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 held onto a gain while the wider Topix gauge was little changed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid more than 1%, with a smaller drop seen in Shanghai. Futures for US and European indexes rose about 0.1%.

Asian chipmakers advanced, providing a bright spot after memory maker Micron Technology Inc. gave an upbeat forecast, indicating that an industry glut is easing even as the semiconductor maker continues to face challenges in China. South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc. climbed, as did Micronics Japan Co. and Tokyo Electron Ltd. 

The offshore yuan slipped about 0.2%, even as China stepped in to support the currency for a third time this week via a stronger-than-expected setting of its daily reference rate. 

The yen was marginally stronger on Thursday as traders weighed comments from Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda. He struck a dovish tone on Wednesday on the short-term outlook for monetary settings while indicating it might be possible to start normalising policy if he becomes confident in a pick-up in inflation for next year.

Ueda was speaking at a central banking forum in Portugal, where Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell signalled the Fed may raise rates at the next two meetings after June’s pause. Their counterpart at the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, said the ECB would hike next month if current trends hold.

On Wall Street, traders took Powell’s comments in stride, with Treasury yields down on Wednesday and US stocks fluctuating. Treasury yields rose slightly on Thursday.

The tug of war within the S&P 500’s most-influential group dictated trading Wednesday, with a slide in chipmakers offsetting an advance in tech megacaps like Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. 

After the closing bell, Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. led gains in financial companies as the biggest lenders passed the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test, clearing the way for payouts. 

Investors continue to debate the outlook for US equities and how well the economy will hold up under elevated interest rates. Strength in US consumer confidence and home sales buoyed stocks earlier in the week.

“Economic surprise was really one of the key reasons why US equities were doing so well over the last few months,” Daniel Lam, head of equity strategy for Standard Chartered Wealth Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “But if the hurdle gets higher and higher, and becomes harder to beat, investors may be rotating into other regions such as Japan and Asia.”

Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC Holdings Plc in Hong Kong, said markets had thought the impact of tighter monetary policy would have ultimately forced central banks to ease, but that this view was so far leading to disappointment. 

“It’s very hard to wrap your head around the fact that we’ve increased interest rates so much over the past year and that there wouldn’t be a balance sheet impact ultimately on consumers, on the commercial real estate market,” he said on Bloomberg Television.

Elsewhere, oil steadied in Asia after a big decline in US crude stockpiles. Gold reversed an earlier gain and Bitcoin was little changed. DM