Asia Stocks Rise on China Support, Oil Trims Gains: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia advanced after China rolled out its latest move to support the country’s slumping equity market.

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Shares edged higher in Hong Kong while Japanese equities also rose, led by energy producers, following gains in oil. Contracts for US stocks were mostly steady as investors weighed risks from the Middle East conflicts at the start of a crucial week for the global policy outlook.

China’s securities regulator announced Sunday that it will halt the lending of certain shares for short selling from Monday. The authorities are introducing measures following an alarming slide in the nation’s stocks — the MSCI China Index has lost around 60% from a February 2021 peak.

“The very poor sentiment leading to this could potentially open the door for some technical rebound,” Homin Lee, senior macro strategist at Lombard Odier, said on the measure in Chinese stocks on Bloomberg Television. “But in terms of the ability of these measures to really change the market sentiment, we’re slightly more cautious because what’s really needed is a change in the inflation outlook for the country and the overall sentiment in the private sector.”

China Evergrande Group is back in Hong Kong court as it will once again try to fend off liquidation. The distressed developer has made little progress toward clinching a restructuring agreement with creditors. Elsewhere, shares in other property developers rose after the southern metropolis of Guangzhou further eased home-buying restrictions.

Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude pared their advance after rising more than 1% to their highest since November in intraday trading. The US said Iranian-backed militants killed three service members, with US President Joe Biden pledging to retaliate. Oil had also climbed on Friday after Houthi rebels attacked a vessel carrying Russian fuel.

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The dollar edged higher and Treasuries steadied in Asian trading after retreating in the US on Friday. Mixed economic data spurred concerns the Federal Reserve will signal patience about the pace of interest-rate cuts when it meets on Wednesday.

This week also brings a slew of key data, from European GDP on Tuesday, to China PMI and Australian inflation on Wednesday, then European inflation and a Bank of England policy decision on Thursday.

“We think the Fed is likely to reiterate its data-dependent stance and caution that it is willing to exercise patience,” analysts at ANZ Bank Ltd., including Miles Workman, wrote in a report. “The Fed will be cautious about any reacceleration of inflation pressures from above-trend growth and the resilient labor market.”

Earlier Singapore’s central bank kept its monetary policy settings unchanged for a third straight time as price pressures persist and the economy shows signs of resilience.

Key events this week:

• Australia retail sales, Tuesday

• Eurozone economic confidence, GDP, consumer confidence, Tuesday

• European Central Bank board members Boris Vujcic and Philip Lane speak, Tuesday

• US Conf. Board consumer confidence, Tuesday

• Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. to report earnings, Tuesday

• Australia CPI, Wednesday

• Japan industrial production, retail sales, Wednesday

• China non-manufacturing PMI, manufacturing PMI, Wednesday

• France CPI, Wednesday

• Germany CPI, unemployment, Wednesday

• European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane speaks, Wednesday

• Federal Reserve’s rate decision, US employment cost index, Wednesday

• Boeing Co. announces earnings, Wednesday

• US Treasury quarterly refunding, in which officials to announce plans for auctions of 3-year notes, 10-year notes and 30-year bonds and other borrowing plans, Wednesday

• Japan PMI, Thursday

• China Caixin manufacturing PMI, Thursday

• Eurozone S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, CPI, unemployment, Thursday

• Bank of England’s rate decision, Thursday

• European Central Bank Governing Council member Mario Centeno speaks, Thursday

• US ISM Manufacturing, initial jobless claims, Thursday

• Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. to report earnings, Thursday

• German lawmakers hold final votes on revised 2024 federal budget, Friday

• European Central Bank Governing Council Member Mario Centeno speaks, Friday

• US employment report, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, factory orders, Friday

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% as of 10:45 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 was little changed on Friday

• Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5%

• Japan’s Topix rose 1.2%

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%

• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.5%

• The Shanghai Composite fell 0.2%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

• The euro was little changed at $1.0846

• The Japanese yen was little changed at 148.09 per dollar

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1877 per dollar

• The Australian dollar rose 0.3% to $0.6593

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.6% to $42,205.38

• Ether rose 0.2% to $2,268.45

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.13%

• Japan’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 0.710%

• Australia’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.22%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $78.51 a barrel

• Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,023.38 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Garfield Reynolds.

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