EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific were lower in Thursday trade. The Shanghai Composite in the mainland China led the losses regionally, slipping more than 1%, followed by the Nikkei 225 in Japan that declined 0.94%.
The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.35%, the Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.40%, the S&P BSE Sensex in India slipped 0.34%, and the Straits Times index in Singapore was down 0.30%. The South Korea’s KOSPI traded around the flatline.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq was flat at 15,235.84, while the Dow and the S&P 500 closed lower, dragged down by cyclical sectors including financial, healthcare, energy, and industrials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.74% to 35,490.69, and the S&P 500 lost 0.51% to 4,551.68.
OIL
Oil prices fell after U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose more than expected. Crude stocks rose by 4.3 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Department said, more than double the 1.9-million-barrel gain forecast by analysts. Still, gasoline stocks fell by 2 million barrels to the lowest in nearly four years.
Shares of oil firms in Asia-Pacific also declined, with Australia’s Beach Energy dropping 1.57%. In Japan, Inpex fell 2.84% while Hong Kong-listed shares of PetroChina plunged 3.87%.
The Brent now traded at $82.70 per barrel, and U.S. crude futures traded at $81.07 per barrel.
Overnight, the Brent ends at $84.58 a barrel, a two-week low, and the WTI settled at $82.66 per barrel, dropping 2.4%.
CURRENCIES
U.S. short-term Treasury yields rose above 0.5% for the first time in 19 months. That caused the Treasury yield curve to flatten, as the possible timing of the Fed's first interest rate rise came into tighter focus.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dropped to 1.555%, while the 2-year yields spiked to 0.515%, the highest since March 2020.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.835 — still off levels around 94 seen recently.
Bitcoin slid below $60,000 as euphoria over the first U.S. crypto ETF dissipated and traders took profits following a record-breaking rally. The bitcoin was at $58,98, and Ether was steady at $4,002.
GOLD
Prices of safe-haven gold rose in seesaw trading, buoyed by a fall in U.S. bond yields and a softer dollar.
Spot gold rose to $1,799.40 per ounce, and U.S. gold futures rose to $1,801.10.
Silver and platinum slipped 0.50% to $24.07 and $1,014.10 and palladium edged 0.30% lower to $1,968.50.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
A flare-up in U.S.-China tensions, signs of further regulatory crackdowns from Beijing and a rise in short-dated U.S. Treasury yields weighted on the Asian stocks on Thursday, offsetting tailwinds from forecast-beating earnings on Wall Street.
Concern over more tension between Beijing and Washington weighed on markets, after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted to revoke the authorization for China Telecom's U.S. subsidiary to operate in the States after nearly two decades, citing national security.
Investors also looked to whether central banks may consider tightening monetary policy earlier than thought. Focus has shifted to the ECB meetings expected later in the day. The central bank is expected to keep policy unchanged with the ECB likely to push back against expectations for a rate hike next year. Earlier, the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy settings steady, and projected inflation to stay below its 2% target for at least two more years, reinforcing market bets it will lag other central banks in dialling back crisis-mode policies.
Due for earnings releases today including from Caterpillar, Merck, MasterCard, Apple, Amazon, Hershey, Comcast, and Starbucks.
