EQUITIES
Most Asia-Pacific markets broadly fell on Thursday following heavy losses on Wall Street overnight.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led losses regionally, falling 2.26%. Tech giants listed in Hong Kong were hit hard, with the index plummeting 5%. Shares of Chinese tech behemoth Tencent plunged more than 7% after it reported flat revenue growth in the first quarter, its worst performance since going public in 2004.
Other Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong also saw heavy losses, with Alibaba falling 6.22% while Meituan shed 3.43%. China's technology sector is weighed as it still reeling from a year-long government crackdown and slowing economic prospects stemming from Beijing's strict zero-COVID policy.
Mainland Chinese stocks also declined, with the Shanghai Composite down about 0.08%. Japan's Nikkei 225 in Japan shedding 1.86%, South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 1.22%, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia slipped 1.67%.
Overnight on Wall Street, major indexes tumbled, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at its lowest since March 2021, as it dropped 3.57%, to 31,490.07. The S&P 500 slipped 4.04% to 4,923.68, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 4.73% to 11,418.15.
OIL
Oil prices climbed on Thursday, recovering from early losses, as lingering fears over tight global supplies outweighed fears over slower economic growth.
Oil prices have generally been rising as Russian supply is squeezed by bans from several countries and an economic downturn due to broad sanctions on Moscow imposed by the U.S. and allies. And on the demand side, hopes of further lockdown easing in China boosted expectations of a recovery.
Brent crude rose 1.22% to $110.58 per barrel, while U.S. WTI crude was up 0.77% to $110.03 a barrel. Both benchmark prices fell about 2.5% on Wednesday.
CURRENCIES
The dollar pausing for breath after big gains in the previous session. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major peers, edged 0.3% lower to 103.606, after a 0.55% jump overnight that ended a three-day losing streak.
Meanwhile the U.S. Treasuries rallied overnight and were largely steady on Thursday, leaving the yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes at 2.893%, dropping from as high as 3.015% in the prior session. The two-year yield, which rises with traders' expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 2.6756% compared with a U.S. close of 2.667%.
GOLD
Gold prices were traded flat, as a steady U.S. dollar and elevated Treasury yields weighed on greenback-priced bullion.
Gold's performance and outlook have also been under the cloud of an aggressive Fed monetary policy stance on rate hikes as the bank pushes to rein in soaring inflation.
Spot gold was slightly lower at $1,816.00 per ounce. U.S. gold futures edged 0.07% lower to $1,814.70.
Spot silver edged up 0.1% to $21.41 per ounce, platinum dropped 0.9% to $927.37, and palladium slipped 0.6% to $2,004.58.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian stocks tracked a steep Wall Street selloff on Thursday, as investors fretted over rising global inflation, prolonged supply chain snarls, the conflict in Ukraine, pandemic-related lockdowns in China and monetary policy tightening by central banks, stoking concerns about a global economic slowdown.
