Asian stock-index futures climbed, indicating the benchmark gauge may trim its worst weekly slump in 15 months, as improved economic data from the U.S. to China bolstered the global outlook. New Zealand’s dollar strengthened the first day this week, while copper futures rose. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average were bid at 13,590 in the Osaka pre-market, after closing at 13,575 in Chicago and 13,350 in Japan yesterday. Contracts on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index (AS51) rose 0.9 percent, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.1 percent after the gauge rose 0.9 percent in New York. New Zealand’s currency trimmed its biggest weekly drop since June as the yen held near a three-week low. Copper futures rose 0.2 percent and gasoline futures gained. Global stocks snapped a three-day retreat yesterday as U.S. jobless claims fell to a five-year low over the past month and euro zone and Chinese factory output rose more than estimated. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is set for a 3.5 percent weekly drop as emerging-market economies slow and the U.S. mulls stimulus cuts. Indonesia may announce policies to boost growth and India says it will continue to stem rupee volatility with global central bankers set to meet in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “The fact that the U.S. and European recoveries are improving, albeit fractionally, is a good foundation for global markets,” Matthew Sherwood, the head of investment markets research in Sydney at Perpetual Investments, which manages about $25 billion, said by e-mail. “Markets are clearly in a transitional phase. Investors firstly have to get through the removal of the price distortions that quantitative easing created.” Nasdaq Halt U.S. Treasuries were mixed in New York, with yields on 10-year notes little changed at 2.88 percent after reaching a two-year high of 2.93 percent, the most since July 2011. Thirty-year yields dropped five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 3.87 percent. The Nasdaq Stock Market (CCMP) was halted for about three hours in the U.S. day after errors in the feed used to disseminate quotes and prices, according to the Nasdaq website. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.1 percent to 3,638.71 after trading resumed. Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s largest technology company, ended the day 0.1 percent higher. The halt resulted in the second-fewest number of shares changing hands on U.S. exchanges in at least five years during a full-day session, excluding holiday trading. About 4.4 billion shares traded yesterday, 30 percent below the three-month average. The disruption came in the same week mistaken trades sent by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. roiled the U.S. options market. Chinese Markets “It’s a big deal for the Nasdaq, but it wasn’t as impactful on the market as you would expect,” Douglas Kass, the founder of Palm Beach, Florida-based Seabreeze Partners Management Inc., said by phone. “There’ll be some residual loss of confidence on the part of retail investors but beyond that I don’t think it’ll have impact.” Japan’s Topix Index (TPX), posting a 30 percent advance this year, is set for a 2 percent decline this week after falling the past three days. The S&P/ASX 200 dropped three out of four days in the week in Sydney and is down 0.8 percent since Aug. 19. The MSCI Asia Pacific index’s weekly slump will be the worst since May 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.3 percent in its most recent trading session after the measure ended a five-day decline yesterday to gain 0.4 percent. Contracts on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.3 percent, while the Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese stocks in New York added 1.6 percent yesterday. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and China Construction Bank Corp. (939) are among companies reporting earnings today. Jackson Hole Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is among speakers at the Federal Reserve’s annual monetary conference in Jackson Hole today and tomorrow, which comes as the U.S. central bank debates the timing of reductions to its record bond buying and other global regulators pump up accommodation. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke won’t be in attendance. The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, was little changed today, after rising 0.2 percent yesterday to the highest close since Aug. 2 in its second day of gains. The yen, down 1.2 percent this week versus the U.S. currency, was little changed at 98.76 per dollar by 8:36 a.m. in Tokyo, after slumping 1.1 percent yesterday to the weakest close since Aug. 2. The euro was steady at $1.3361, up 0.2 percent in the week. Rupee Slump India’s rupee is headed for the biggest depreciation among emerging-market currencies this week, losing 4.6 percent against the dollar as speculation the Fed will taper stimulus raises the prospect of declining fund flows into emerging markets. The Reserve Bank of India will continue with measures to cut exchange-rate swings and revisit its steps once the currency stabilizes, Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said yesterday in New Delhi. Indonesia’s rupiah is the second-worst performer in emerging markets, down 4.1 percent, while the Thai baht has lost 2.5 percent, the most since 2006. The currency known as the kiwi added 0.3 percent to 78.5 U.S. cents, cutting its drop in the week to 3.1 percent, still the most among 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Australia’s dollar added 0.3 percent to 90.33 cents, extending yesterday’s 0.4 percent jump after the Chinese manufacturing report. China is Australia’s biggest trading partner. Economic Data A preliminary purchasing managers index for China by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics rose to 50.1 from 47.7 yesterday, exceeding all 16 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. The world’s second-largest economy grew 7.5 percent in the three months to June 30, the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2012. In the euro area, the services index advanced to 51 in August from 49.8 in July, London-based Markit said. Economists forecast an increase to 50.2, according to the median of 32 estimates. The factory gauge indicated expansion for a second month in August, rising to 51.3 from 50.3. A composite index covering both industries increased to 51.7 from 50.5. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained for the first day this week yesterday, climbing 1 percent. The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent Aug. 21 to the lowest level since July 8 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined for a sixth day, the longest losing streak in 13 months, after the release of minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting. Policy makers were “comfortable” with Chairman Bernanke’s plans to start reducing bond buying this year should the U.S. economy improve. Fed stimulus has helped push the S&P 500 up as much as 153 percent from its March 2009 low. Jobless Figures The number of U.S. jobless claims in the month ended Aug. 17 declined to 330,500 a week on average, the least since November 2007, Labor Department figures showed yesterday. Compared with a week earlier, claims rose by 13,000 to 336,000, in line with the median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The Conference Board’s gauge of the U.S. economic outlook for the next three to six months increased 0.6 percent after no change the prior month, the New York-based group said yesterday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.5 percent advance. A gauge of homebuilders added 1.9 percent after a report showed U.S. house prices rose in June. Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) advanced more than 1 percent as copper rose. Yahoo Inc. climbed 3.1 percent after data showed it attracted more U.S. visitors than Google Inc. in July. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) dropped 12 percent as the world’s second-biggest maker of personal computers issued a forecast for fiscal fourth-quarter profit that missed some estimates. Indonesian Rout The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slumped a sixth day yesterday, losing 0.2 percent and putting the measure of developing-nation stocks on track for a 3.7 percent drop in the week, the most since June. Indonesia’s Jakarta Stock Index is leading declines among Asian developing markets this week, losing 8.7 percent after worse-than-estimated economic data and a report showing the current-account deficit widened to a record in the second quarter. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may announce a package of reforms today, including fiscal stimulus and corporate tax holidays as the nation tries to shore up growth. Gold was little changes at $1,376.55 an ounce in early trading today, after adding 0.7 percent yesterday. The precious metal is steady this week, after rising over the previous two weeks. Silver climbed 0.1 percent today, rising a second day to trim a weekly drop of 0.4 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was steady at $105.04 a barrel, after rising from a two-week low yesterday to gain 1.1 percent. WTI is down 2.3 percent in the week. Gasoline futures rose a third day, adding 0.2 percent. To contact the reporters on this story: Emma O’Brien in Wellington at [email protected]; Adam Haigh in Sydney at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emma O’Brien at [email protected]
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 01:07:08 +0000
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