Most Asian stock benchmarks rose as a rally in U.S. stocks extended into after-hours trading following a series of strong results from tech giants.
Benchmarks in Australia and Japan rose, but stocks in Greater China were mixed. South Korean stocks rose more than 2%, on track for their biggest weekly gain since 2022. U.S. stock futures also rose after the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index both rose more than 1% on Thursday.
advertisement
Continue reading below
Manish Bhargava, fund manager at Straits Investment Holdings (Singapore), said, “Oversold technicals have triggered automatic buying, and the after-hours rally in the US market has become positive,'' driving the rise in Asian stocks. He said he is doing so. “Algorithmic traders programmed to react to such technical signals are likely driving the initial rally. This buying frenzy is being further amplified by short covering.”
In South Korea, automakers and hardware technology companies, as well as banks, rose on the benchmark Kospi index on hopes that tighter regulation would boost valuations. The country's finance minister vowed earlier this week to improve shareholder returns and corporate governance.
Meanwhile, Japan's Aozora Bank fell as much as 19%, taking a two-day decline of more than 30% after it said it would report its first loss in 15 years due to debt deterioration related to the U.S. commercial real estate market.
Number of non-farm employees
U.S. Treasuries were firm in Asian trading after Thursday's rally pushed the 10-year Treasury yield down 3 basis points. Although the dollar index fell, the Australian dollar was the best performing currency among the Group of Ten (G10) countries.
The Treasury's move comes ahead of Friday's release of U.S. non-farm jobs data, which is expected to show a slowdown in new hiring. Separate statistics released Thursday pointed to an increase in unemployment claims, suggesting a softening labor market.
Global stock markets are heading for a second week of gains as traders continue to expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in the coming months. The Chinese authorities' declaration that government spending will remain steady has also supported sentiment.
Anitsa Nip, head of Asian fixed income research at Union Bancare Privy, told Bloomberg TV that the Fed meeting “gave a very strong signal to the market that interest rates have peaked and a rate cut is on the way.” Ta. “Our view is that the cuts will start in May or June and there will be four cuts this year.”
Rising U.S. Treasuries and renewed demand for gold pushed precious metals prices higher in the fourth session on Thursday, signaling further worries for U.S. regional banks. The U.S. regional financial index is on pace for its worst week since May last year in the aftermath of the banking crisis. The decline came after Citizens Financial Group's CEO said the problems that led to the collapse of several lenders last year are largely a thing of the past.
Elsewhere, Japanese banking giant Mizuho Financial Group is likely to report a decline in third-quarter net profit when it releases its results today. In India, financial technology giant Paytm fell another 20%, mirroring Thursday's decline, when JPMorgan downgraded its rating following restrictions imposed on its unit by regulators.
advertisement
Continue reading below
Earlier in the US, Meta Platforms Inc. rose as much as 15% in post-market trading after strong results. The company announced its first-ever quarterly dividend of 50 cents a share and authorized an additional $50 billion in share buybacks. Amazon.com's stock price rose about 9% after the bell after the company reported strong sales. The momentum outpaced a decline at Apple Inc., which revealed a deepening recession in China, even though overall sales increased.
“Some of the returns were fantastic,” Max Wasserman, founder and senior portfolio manager at Miramar Capital, told Bloomberg TV. “You're hearing good numbers from Meta, you're hearing decent numbers from Amazon. One thing to note is you're not hearing great numbers from Apple.”
Thursday's rise in U.S. stocks marked a rebound from the previous session, when stocks fell after the Federal Reserve resisted the prospect of cutting interest rates in March.
Crude oil ended a two-day decline. Bloomberg News reported that negotiations are progressing toward an agreement that would suspend the Israel-Hamas war and release civilian hostages.
The main movements in the market are:
stock
- S&P 500 futures were up 0.5% as of 1:13 p.m. Tokyo time.
- Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) rose 0.9%
- Japan's TOPIX rose 0.4%
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.3%
- Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6%
- The Shanghai Composite fell 0.7%.
- Euro Stoxx50 futures rose 0.9%
currency
- Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index little changed
- The euro was almost unchanged at $1.0876.
- The Japanese yen remained almost unchanged at 146.36 yen to the dollar.
- The offshore yuan was almost unchanged at 7.1887 yuan to the dollar.
- The Australian dollar rose 0.4% to $0.6596.
cryptocurrency
- Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $42,996.47.
- Ether fell 0.1% to $2.300.51.
bond
- The 10-year Treasury yield rose 1 basis point to 3.89%.
- Japan's 10-year bond yield fell 1.5 basis points to 0.675%.
- The Australian 10-year bond yield fell three basis points to 3.98%.
merchandise
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4% to $74.12 per barrel.
- Spot gold remained largely unchanged.
This article was produced in partnership with Bloomberg Automation.
© 2024 Bloomberg
