News broadcasts report market information at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York. (Photo: David Dee Delgado/Bloomberg) Equity benchmarks in the tech-heavy markets of Japan and South Korea advanced alongside futures for the Nasdaq 100 that compounded Wednesday gains for the index in New York trading. The move was partly driven by an after-hours rally in Micron Technology Inc., a Nasdaq 100 constituent, following a strong revenue forecast. Futures for the S&P 500 also rose after a small Wednesday decline.
Asian tech stocks outperformed as a gauge of the region’s equities rekindled a rally from earlier in the week to trade at the highest level in two years. Investors’ rush to catch up to the AI-driven rally could overshadow market scepticism about China’s stimulus measures that deflated the country’s stock momentum on Wednesday afternoon.
Chinese equities fluctuated in opening trade. The Golden Dragon index of US-listed Chinese stocks fell on Wednesday, which may be an early sign of fatigue for the stimulus-driven rally in Chinese stocks this week.
Beijing’s latest support measures may not be enough to tempt investors still worried about the housing market and weak consumer sentiment, Ed Gomes, chief investment officer for SGMC Capital, said on Bloomberg Television. “We do perceive value in the market, but just given the overhang on multiple fronts, we are very hesitant to take a long-term view,” Gomes said. “Everyone is waiting and watching.”
China is considering injecting up to 1 trillion yuan ($142-billion) of capital into its biggest state banks to increase their capacity to support the struggling economy, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Treasury yields were steady after rising across the curve on Wednesday, supporting gains in the dollar, as investors faced an onslaught of new bond supply from an auction of five-year notes. An index of greenback strength rose 0.7% Wednesday but pared some of those gains early on Thursday.
The yen traded at around 145 per dollar after a Wednesday decline against the greenback of more than 1%. Softness in the Japanese currency comes amid signs the Bank of Japan is in no rush to further increase interest rates.
China Stimulus
With China’s central bank recently surprising the market with its broad package of monetary stimulus steps, more fiscal measures may come in the next few days as President Xi Jinping’s 24-member Politburo is set to meet ahead of the weeklong holiday.
In a rare announcement of direct aid, coming just a day after unveiling a sweeping programme to stimulate the world’s second-largest economy, authorities said they will give one-off cash handouts to people in extreme poverty, the state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday, without providing details.
Elsewhere in Asia, data set for release includes industrial production in Singapore, machine tool orders in Japan and Hong Kong trade data.
On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler said she “strongly supported” the US central bank’s decision last week, adding it will be appropriate to make additional rate cuts if inflation continues to ease as expected.
Going forward, the Fed’s level of success in guiding the US to a soft landing will be important in determining the outlook for other asset classes, said UBS Group AG’s Solita Marcelli.
“The market has been overestimating Fed easing for the last three years and I think probably continues to do so,” said Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments. “But what’s changed a bit with the 50 basis point move was a willingness by the Fed to move faster, to be more accommodative, to be more receptive to economic conditions, as opposed to just focusing on inflation.”
In commodities, oil was steady after plunging in the previous trading session. West Texas Intermediate, the US oil price, slipped more than 2% on Wednesday to settle below $70 a barrel. Elsewhere, gold traded steady near an all-time high as the weak US data bolstered the case for deeper interest rate cuts.