TOKYO / BOSTON (Reuters) – Asian stocks fell on Friday after loud Chinese economic data and concerns about a slowdown in U.S. fiscal stimulus that discouraged some investors from taking risks.
FILE PHOTO: A visitor wearing a protective face mask, after an outbreak of the coronavirus, walks past for a share ticket outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan March 2, 2020. REUTERS / Issei Kato
MSCI’s broadest index of shares in Asia-Pacific outside Japan fell 0.24%, although shares in Japan rose by 0.07%.
South Korean shares fell 1.27% after authorities reported the largest number of new cases of coronavirus since March.
Chinese stocks reversed early gains and fell 0.1% as a slower-than-expected rise in industrial production and a surprising drop in retail sales awaited investor sentiment.
Futures for e-mini for the S&P 500 rose 0.23%.
Yields on U.S. treasuries continued to rise after a 30-year bond auction on Thursday was met with weak demand.
Further equity gains are likely to be limited as investors wait for progress in negotiations on U.S. economic stimulus, which is necessary to prevent an emerging recovery in the world’s largest economy from slipping in reverse.
The S&P 500 ended a little lower on Thursday after short trading above its record closing high level for a second day, as doubts about US stimulus measures took hold.
“Many say the best treatment for altitude sickness is to stop and rest where you are,” wrote Rodrigo Catril, Senior FX Strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney, in a note on the slight decline in US equities and government bonds.
The mood was cautious in Asia after Chinese retail sales fell unexpectedly in July, suggesting that domestic demand is still struggling following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Some traders stuck to the sidelines before a meeting between US and Chinese officials on Saturday discussed their Phase 1 trade.
Spotgold was kept stable at $ 1,952.41, close to a record high set last week in another sign of cautious sentiment.
Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell below one million for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this was not enough to change economists’ perceptions that the job market is false.
Yields on 30-year-old U.S. treasuries stood at 1.4141% in Asia on Friday, near a five-week high after the government on Thursday sold a record amount of 30-year bonds to weak demand.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields traded at 0.7094% in Asia, close to a seven-week high hit on Thursday.
Higher yields broadly supported the US dollar, which remained stable at 106.94 yen and at $ 1,811 against the euro.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar fell to $ 0.7139, as weak Chinese data suggest less demand for Australian commodity exports.
Oil futures jumped 0.14% in Asian crude to $ 42.30 a barrel. Brent edge 0.18% higher to $ 45.04 per barrel, but further gains may be limited by concerns about weak global energy demand.
Report by Stanley White in Tokyo and Lawrence Delevingne in Boston; Edited by Sam Holmes
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