Asian shares hardly changed amid hope that rates will be cut in 2024
Equities hold on to their gains for the week, while oil falls on expectation of smaller Opec+ cut
23 November 2023 - 07:26
bySelena Li
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Passersby are reflected on an electric stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan. Picture: REUTERS/ISSEI KATO
Hong Kong — Asian shares were flat on Thursday with markets holding on to their gains for the week as confidence grows that interest rates globally will head lower in 2024, while oil prices fell on the prospects for smaller-than-expected output cuts by Opec+.
Investors are also looking to Chinese policymakers for clues on possible support for the long-suffering property market, in line with broader growth targets they are hammering out.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.11% in thin trading, with Japan and the US on holiday.
The US market, which has priced out the chances of another rate hike in December, shrugged off strong weekly jobs data Wednesday night that may nevertheless reduce the prospects for quicker-than-expected rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, said Redmond Wong, Greater China market strategist at Saxo Markets.
Japanese markets are closed for a national holiday on Thursday, after the Nikkei 225 edged up 0.3% the day before and approached a three-decade high.
Trading worldwide was expected to be quiet due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US
China’s benchmark share index fell 0.3% on Thursday, with the real estate subindex down 0.8%. A large wealth manager with heavy exposure to the property market disclosed that it faces insolvency with relevant liabilities of up to $64bn. Chinese government advisers will recommend to an annual policymakers’ meeting that economic growth targets for next year be set at 4.5% to 5.5%, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.7% while Australia stocks fell 0.4%.
Markets have generally been buoyant in November, with stocks rallying on the expectation of a more benign interest rate backdrop.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 is nearing a fresh high for 2023, with the S&P 500 and MSCI’s all-country index both up more than 8% in November alone. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 11% for the month.
The next set of forward-looking flash November purchasing managers indices (PMIs) will help investors to assess recession risks and how quickly rate cuts might begin.
The PMIs for the eurozone and Britain are already below the 50 threshold, suggesting that economic activity is contracting, while the US October manufacturing PMI contracted sharply.
The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was at 4.408% on Thursday, after sliding to a two-month low of 4.363%.
The dollar index rose overnight, bouncing from a two-and-a-half-month low after data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.
US crude fell 1.25% to $76.14 a barrel and Brent was at $80.84, down 1.37%, extending losses from the previous session after Opec+ postponed a ministerial meeting, which stoked the expectation that producers might cut output less than had been expected.
Sterling weakened on Wednesday and Britain’s FTSE 100 fell for a third straight session after UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt unveiled tax cuts and other measures in his autumn budget to boost growth, but forecast a far more sluggish economic outlook than previously expected.
In cryptocurrencies, Binance chief Changpeng Zhao has stepped down and pleaded guilty to violations of US anti-money-laundering laws as part of a $4bn settlement resolving a years-long investigation into the world's largest crypto exchange. Bitcoin rose nearly 5% on Wednesday and was last at $37,450.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Asian shares hardly changed amid hope that rates will be cut in 2024
Equities hold on to their gains for the week, while oil falls on expectation of smaller Opec+ cut
Hong Kong — Asian shares were flat on Thursday with markets holding on to their gains for the week as confidence grows that interest rates globally will head lower in 2024, while oil prices fell on the prospects for smaller-than-expected output cuts by Opec+.
Investors are also looking to Chinese policymakers for clues on possible support for the long-suffering property market, in line with broader growth targets they are hammering out.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.11% in thin trading, with Japan and the US on holiday.
The US market, which has priced out the chances of another rate hike in December, shrugged off strong weekly jobs data Wednesday night that may nevertheless reduce the prospects for quicker-than-expected rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, said Redmond Wong, Greater China market strategist at Saxo Markets.
Japanese markets are closed for a national holiday on Thursday, after the Nikkei 225 edged up 0.3% the day before and approached a three-decade high.
Trading worldwide was expected to be quiet due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US
China’s benchmark share index fell 0.3% on Thursday, with the real estate subindex down 0.8%. A large wealth manager with heavy exposure to the property market disclosed that it faces insolvency with relevant liabilities of up to $64bn. Chinese government advisers will recommend to an annual policymakers’ meeting that economic growth targets for next year be set at 4.5% to 5.5%, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 0.7% while Australia stocks fell 0.4%.
Markets have generally been buoyant in November, with stocks rallying on the expectation of a more benign interest rate backdrop.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 is nearing a fresh high for 2023, with the S&P 500 and MSCI’s all-country index both up more than 8% in November alone. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 11% for the month.
The next set of forward-looking flash November purchasing managers indices (PMIs) will help investors to assess recession risks and how quickly rate cuts might begin.
The PMIs for the eurozone and Britain are already below the 50 threshold, suggesting that economic activity is contracting, while the US October manufacturing PMI contracted sharply.
The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was at 4.408% on Thursday, after sliding to a two-month low of 4.363%.
The dollar index rose overnight, bouncing from a two-and-a-half-month low after data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.
US crude fell 1.25% to $76.14 a barrel and Brent was at $80.84, down 1.37%, extending losses from the previous session after Opec+ postponed a ministerial meeting, which stoked the expectation that producers might cut output less than had been expected.
Sterling weakened on Wednesday and Britain’s FTSE 100 fell for a third straight session after UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt unveiled tax cuts and other measures in his autumn budget to boost growth, but forecast a far more sluggish economic outlook than previously expected.
In cryptocurrencies, Binance chief Changpeng Zhao has stepped down and pleaded guilty to violations of US anti-money-laundering laws as part of a $4bn settlement resolving a years-long investigation into the world's largest crypto exchange. Bitcoin rose nearly 5% on Wednesday and was last at $37,450.
Spot gold added 0.2% to $1,993.04/oz.
Reuters
Oil prices fall as Opec+ delays meeting
Global equities at three-month highs
Oil prices mark time ahead of Sunday’s Opec+ meeting
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
MARKET WRAP: JSE firmer, rand weakens ahead of rate decision
JSE lifts, as markets digest US Fed minutes
WATCH: Market Report
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.