Asian shares falter on soft US and China data

Sydney — Most Asian share markets were subdued on Friday and the dollar held onto its gains from safe-haven flows, after soft economic data from US and China magnified concerns of a global slowdown, though Japanese stocks outperformed.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2% and was headed for a weekly decline of 0.8%, weighed lower by a slew of data from China that pointed to a sluggish economic recovery after the lift of Covid-19 lockdowns.

Japan’s Nikkei, however, surged 0.8% to the highest level since November 2021, buoyed by strong earnings by Nissan and Honda. Nasdaq futures rose 0.3% while the S&P 500 futures was 0.2% higher.

China’s bluechips eased 0.1% in early trade though Hong Kong stocks eked out a small 0.2% gain, helped by a 8% jump in the e-commerce giant JD.com on its earnings beat and leadership changes.

China’s economic recovery seems to be losing steam, with new bank loans tumbling sharply in April, consumer prices rising at the slowest pace in more than two years and imports unexpectedly contracting, driving in a plunge in commodity prices from copper, iron ore to oil.

Overnight, data showed US jobless claims jumped to an 18 month high last week, while producer prices rose at a smallest annual increase in more than two years, hinting at potentially more abrupt slowing in the world’s largest economy.

The data added confidence that the Federal Reserve is almost certain to pause its rate hikes at its policy meeting in June, with futures markets continuing to price in cuts of about 78 basis points by the end of the year.

“It’s sort of a messy background for share markets and investment markets,” said Shane Oliver, chief economist AMP in Sydney, noting the weaker global growth and return of bank worries.

“The silver lining in the cloud is inflationary pressures are diminishing, which takes pressure off central banks, notwithstanding the Bank of England continuing to hike.”

Banking fears reverberated overnight. PacWest again led declines in regional banks with a sharp fall of 23% overnight, after it reported its deposits fell 9.5% last week.

Shares of US big banks were also lower after the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said big lenders would bear the cost of replenishing its deposit insurance fund caused by recent bank failures.

That pulled the Dow lower, though Nasdaq added 0.2%, supported by a 4.3% jump in Alphabet on its rollout of more artificial intelligence products.

The uncertainty around raising the US debt ceiling lingers. A meeting between US President Joe Biden and top legislators that had been scheduled for Friday has been postponed to early next week, with the IMF warning that a US default would have “serious repercussions” for the US economy.

The dollar benefited from safe-haven flows amid growth concerns and banking worries, holding onto its 0.6% gain overnight at 102.05 against a basket of currencies.

The Chinese yuan hovered near its lowest level in two months at 6.948/$, while sterling nursed losses close to a one-week low of $1.2515.

Treasury yields were slightly lower in Asia, after longer-dated yields declined further overnight on soft data. Benchmark 10-year notes were 2 basis points lower at 3.373%, while two-year yields were 3 bps lower at 3.876%.

The Bank of England stuck to the script by raising its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5% on Thursday. It, however, vowed that it would “stay the course” to curb the highest inflation of any major economy.

Oil were licking wounds after taking a hit on China. US crude futures edged up 0.1% to $70.96 per barrel, while Brent crude was little changed at $74.97 per barrel.

Gold prices were 0.2% lower at $2012.12/oz.

Reuters