SINGAPORE/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Asian stocks inched up on Friday, despite Wall Street declines, but struggled to make deeper gains as worries about a faltering economic recovery kept investors to the sidelines or seeking safer harbour in assets such as the Japanese yen.
Oil prices held hefty overnight gains after OPEC flagged a crackdown on member states that did not cut output and the dollar was back to nursing losses after a brief journey higher in the wake of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan looked set to end the week 1% ahead following two weeks of tech-led losses. It rose 0.2% on the day while market moves around the region were small.
Japan’s Nikkei edged 0.1% higher. The ASX 200 was flat, while stocks in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul rose between 0.2% and 0.4%.
U.S. stock futures were soft, with S&P 500 futures down 0.2%, though Nasdaq 100 futures turned positive by the middle of the Asia session to trade 0.07% higher.
“The bigger picture issue is that markets, particularly growth and tech stocks, have run very hard into the end of August, which has left them somewhat vulnerable,” said AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver.
“There’s uncertainty ahead of the U.S. elections…China-U.S. tensions keep creeping in and on top of that there’s now uncertainty about how the recovery will proceed from here in the absence of more stimulus in the U.S.”
Overnight data showed recovery in the U.S. labour market stalling and Wall Street indexes fell for a second straight session amid disappointment that the Fed made no new monetary easing commitments at its meeting this week.
The S&P 500 ended down 0.84%, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.27%. The Nasdaq’s losses put the index down roughly 10% from a record high hit early in September and have it tracking for its worst month since March.
“Unlike June, there is more fear of a deeper correction,” analysts at Singapore’s DBS Bank said in a note – since the Nasdaq is below its 50-day moving average, a key technical support level, and the U.S. election is fast approaching.
“The landscape is more challenging compared to three months ago.”
YEN RALLIES
In contrast to the Fed, the Bank of England made clear overnight that it is open to further aggressive easing and is looking closely at taking interest rates negative.
That dovish tone sent the pound sharply lower before it recovered as the dollar weakened in the New York session. [FRX/]
The Japanese yen also rose overnight, shrugging off a dovish-sounding Bank of Japan to ride a softer greenback and a safety bid to a seven-week peak of 104.52 per dollar. It held there on Friday, though some traders think it can rise further.
“The relative balance sheet trend between the Bank of Japan and Fed can contribute to downside pressure on dollar/yen,” said Commonwealth Bank of Australia currency analyst Joe Capurso.
In commodity markets, oil held sharp gains after OPEC and its allies said the group will take action on members that are not complying with deep output cuts. [O/R]
Brent crude futures were last 0.2% firmer at $43.39 a barrel and U.S. crude futures rose by the same margin to $41.04 a barrel.
U.S. Treasuries picked up where they left off, with yields on 10-year U.S. government debt at 0.6838% after concerns about possible inflation rises in the future helped reverse a bond rally in overnight trade. [US/]
Later on Wednesday, U.S. consumer confidence data is due and Fed board member James Bullard is to make a speech on the challenges of the COVID-19 recovery, both at 1400 GMT.
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook in Singapore and John McCrank in New York; Editing by Sam Holmes)
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
