GLOBAL MARKETS DJIA 36236.47 -170.64 -0.47% Nasdaq 15080.86 -19.31 -0.13% S&P 500 4696.05 -4.53 -0.10% FTSE 100 7450.37 -66.50 -0.88% Nikkei Stock 28376.61 -111.26 -0.39% Hang Seng 23202.68 129.82 0.56% Kospi 2949.45 28.92 0.99% SGX Nifty* 17846.00 26.5 0.15% *Jan contract USD/JPY 115.87-88 +0.03% Range 116.05 115.83 EUR/USD 1.1297-300 -0.01% Range 1.1304 1.1291 CBOT Wheat March $7.460 per bushel Spot Gold $1,791.48/oz Unch Nymex Crude (NY) $79.48 $1.63 U.S. STOCKS
U.S. stocks fell Thursday in a choppy trading session, dragged down by investor worries about the impact the Federal Reserve would have on markets if it raises interest rates faster than once anticipated.
All three major U.S. indexes finished the session lower, erasing intraday gains. The S&P 500 edged down 4.53 points, or 0.1%, to 4696.05. The Nasdaq Composite declined by 19.31 points, or 0.1%, to 15080.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 170.64 points, or 0.5%, to 36236.47.
ASIAN STOCKS
Japanese stocks were broadly higher, led by gains in tech and electronics stocks, following big losses on Thursday caused by the possibility of a faster pace of Fed rate increases. SoftBank Group gained 3.6% and Hitachi Ltd. was 2.0% higher. Covid-19 infection trends were in focus as the government mulls measures that may limit restaurants' operating hours in Okinawa, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures. The Nikkei Stock Average was 1.1% higher at 28798.11.
South Korea's Kospi was 1.0% higher at 2949.84 in early trade, led by gains in tech stocks. Investors, who have been focused on monetary policy tightening, were shifting attention to the outlook for corporate earnings as tech heavyweights issued preliminary earnings figures. Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 1.2% after forecasting a 52% on-year rise in 4Q operating profit.
Hong Kong stocks were higher in morning trade, following overnight ADR gains in the market's blue-chip companies during U.S. trading. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.8% to 23267.22. The upturn was led by a continued recovery in tech companies, which have been improving from heavy selloffs earlier this week. Alibaba was up 3.2% and JD.com gained 3.1%. KGI Securities reckoned the market's upward momentum may be limited as investor sentiment remains pressured by expectations of faster interest rate increases by the Fed.
Chinese stocks rose in morning trade, as the market showed signs of improvement after three consecutive days of losses since the new year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5% to 3605.19, while the Shenzhen Composite Index was up 0.1% at 2484.80. The ChiNext Price Index, which suffered the worst declines this week, edged up 0.1% to 3127.95. Central China Securities said gains may be sustained today, as technical analysis of recent trading patterns suggest a rebound was likely. But the brokerage expected continued risk-averse sentiment and investors staying on the sidelines in the near term.
FOREX
USD/JPY's bias was likely to the upside given that the Fed could embark on an earlier start and faster pace of quantitative tightening this year, TD Securities said. This should support higher yields, in particular, higher 10-year real rates as well as more duration supply, the brokerage said, adding this backdrop should be "toxic" for funding currencies such as JPY. TD Securities sees 118/119 as key upside targets and recommended buying USD/JPY on dips into 114.80-115.50 area. USD/JPY was recently up 0.1% at 115.94 after hitting a five-year high of 116.34 on Tuesday.
Asian currencies were mixed against USD amid divergent developments. Gains in regional equity markets and U.S. stock futures were supporting risk-on sentiment. However, Southeast Asia was now on high alert against an upcoming surge in cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, UOB said. UOB noted reports that Malaysia has warned of a potential jump in daily infections and Thailand has raised the country's Covid-19 alert level to four from three. USD/KRW was down 0.3% to 1,201.84 and AUD/USD edged 0.1% higher to 0.7171 while USD/THB rose 0.2% to 33.60.
METALS
Gold was trading steadily ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for December due later in the day. Should the report significantly exceed market expectations, gold could be in for more "pain", Oanda says, noting that this week's FOMC minutes have already spurred massive selling pressure on the precious metal. Spot gold was little changed at $1,791.48/oz.
OIL SUMMARY
Oil rose in morning Asian trading amid supply concerns. Oil production in Alberta, Canada, has reportedly slowed due to extreme cold, while freezing conditions in the U.S. are reportedly beginning to affect oil output in the Bakken region of North Dakota, ING said. Protests in Kazakhstan, a large oil producer, was another worry, it noted. Front-month WTI crude oil futures were up 0.4% at $79.77/bbl; front-month Brent was 0.3% higher at $82.25/bbl.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-06-22 2215ET
