US downgrade dulls Asian markets

Sydney — Asian shares were subdued on Thursday after Fitch downgraded US sovereign debt sparking profit-taking, with investors now shifting focus to the Bank of England’s (BOE) rate decision and earnings from Apple and Amazon.

Both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures added 0.2%, after a heavy wave of selling on Wall Street overnight.

In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.2%, having also suffered a colossal drop of 2.3% just a day earlier. That compared with a 5.4% monthly gain in July.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.1%, bringing the losses so far in August to 2.5%, giving back some of the 7.5% surge seen a month earlier.

The yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds (JGB) rose to 0.65% on Thursday, the highest since April 2014, after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) loosened its grip on yield curve control last week.

Chinese blue chips were 0.2% higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was mostly flat. A private survey showed China’s services activity expanded at a faster place in July.

“I reckon that even though you could argue that the Fitch downgrade is outdated ... I think you’ve seen enough movements for some things to be burnt and some questions to be asked at these highs,” said Matt Simpson, a market analyst at City Index in Brisbane.

“I reckon at best you probably could look at some choppy trade around these highs, or at worst we can have a bit of a deeper pullback.”

Overnight, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 posted their biggest declines since February and April, respectively, after a blistering July driven by better-than-expected earnings and hopes of a soft landing for the US economy.

Tech earnings loom

Later in the day, Apple is expected to report the largest third-quarter drop in revenues since 2016 as sales of iPhones slow.

Amazon, a bellwether for consumer spending, is expected to report a more than 8% rise in second-quarter revenue, aided by a recovery in the advertising and e-commerce businesses.

Risk sentiment has been tempered by higher long-term US yields after stronger-than-expected private employment data and the announced refunding of the US government’s maturing debt.

US 10-year yields hovered at 4.0856% in Asia, just a touch below a nine-month top of 4.1260% hit overnight. 30-year yields were up 2 basis points (bps) at 4.1847%, nearing the highest level since November.

The US dollar was buoyant in Asia at a one-month high of 102.63 against its major peers, after the strong private payrolls data added to signs of labour market resilience in the US. The closely-watched US nonfarm payrolls report is due on Friday.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar snapped a key support level to hover at $0.6532, just a touch above its 2023 low of $0.6459.

The BOE is expected to raise interest rates later in the day. Most economists expect the central bank to hike by a quarter-point to a 15-year high of 5.25%, but the risk is a repeat of June’s surprise half-point increase, which could fuel bets that major central banks are not done tightening yet.

Overnight, Brazil’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rates for the first time in three years and by a larger-than-expected 50bps, marking the start of an easing cycle in emerging markets now that US rates have likely peaked.

Elsewhere, oil prices were marginally higher as markets weighed bullish US inventory data and a likely extension of Opec+ output cuts. Brent crude futures were up 0.2% at $83.33 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 0.1% to $79.6.

Gold prices edged up 0.1% to $1,936.19 per ounce.

Reuters