EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mostly lower in Friday trade. The Nikkei 225 in Japan dipped 0.10%, the South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.62%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.67%.
The Hong Kong Hang Seng index shed 0.68%, and Shanghai composite was muted above the flatline. The S&P BSE Sensex in India slumped 1.89%, while in Southeast Asia, the Singapore’s Straits Times index bucked the overall trends, to advance 0.61%
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.68%, at 35,730.48, the S&P 500 gained 0.98%, to 4,596.42 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.39%, to 15,448.12.
OIL
Oil prices were steady on Friday but headed for their first weekly losses in more than two months after U.S. oil stocks rose more than expected, and Iran flagged it was resuming talks with Western powers on its nuclear programme which could lead to an end to sanctions.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani on Wednesday said the country's talks with six world powers to try to revive a 2015 nuclear deal will resume by the end of November. A deal could pave the way to lifting harsh sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Trump on Iran's oil exports in late 2018.
The Brent now traded at $84.39 per barrel, and U.S. crude futures traded at $82.83 per barrel. Both benchmarks were on track to fall about 1% for the week - the first in eight weeks for Brent, and the first weekly drop in 10 weeks for WTI.
Overnight, the Brent ends at $84.32 a barrel, and the WTI settled at $82.81 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
The dollar languished near its weakest level in a month against major peers on Friday, hurt by a stronger euro as traders bet on earlier European interest rate hikes. The dollar index, which measures the currency against six main rivals including the euro, was little changed at 93.400, close to Thursday’s low at 93.277 - a level not seen since Sept. 27.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was flat at 1.568%.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained to trade around $61,584, but down from the record $67,016.50 reached last week. Ether rose to a record $4,400.
GOLD
Spot gold down 0.20% to $1,795.70 per ounce, and U.S. gold futures slipped 0.28% to $1,797.60.
Silver shed 0.44% to $24.01, platinum dropped 0.40% to $1,019.90, while palladium edged slightly higher to $1,990.50.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian shares were on edge on Friday, as investors reacted to the release of key U.S. economic growth data, which grew slower than expected, as well as broader investor concerns about the global economic recovery. Although investors still retain their focus on strong corporate results and interest rate expectations amid rising inflation.
U.S. GDP increased at a 2% annualized rate last quarter, the slowest since the second quarter of 2020 when the economy was beset by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the U.S. Commerce Department said in its advance GDP estimate on Thursday. Though the figure was offset by continued improvement in U.S. jobless claims, which dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 281,000 last week, remaining below the 300,000 threshold for the third straight week.
Investors also eyed Washington, where President Joe Biden said he had secured a new $1.75 trillion framework for economic and climate change spending.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde in Thursday’s ECB meeting pushed back against market expectations of interest-rate hikes next year, even if inflation will prove more enduring than originally anticipated.
Cash-strapped China Evergrande Group has made payments for an offshore bond coupon ahead of the expiry of a grace period on Friday, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said, meeting its second U.S. dollar repayment obligation this month. The developer averted a default last week by securing $83.5 million for the last-minute payment of interest on a bond, needed to make $47.5 million in coupon payments to bondholders by Friday.
Investors monitor Apple supplier stocks after revenue miss. Shares of Alps Alpine in Japan plunged 7.25% while Murata Manufacturing climbed 0.48% and Taiyo Yuden gained 1.94%. Over in Taiwan, shares of Hon Hai Precision Industry was unmoved while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company slipped 0.84%. In mainland China, Luxshare’s stock fell 0.80% while GoerTek jumped more than 4%.
Coronavirus infections development is still under watch as outbreaks in China, threat of lockdowns in Russia, along with rising cases in western Europe, weighing on sentiment.
Due for earnings releases on Friday including from Exxon Mobil, AbbVie, Church & Dwight, Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive and L3Harris Technologies.
Market participants also eyed the economic gauges later in the day, with Europe seeing a preliminary reading of the CPI, while the U.S. gets personal spending and income data.
