DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Asia-Pacific markets are set to fall as Wall Street considered the likelihood of Congress passing a tentative deal on raising the U.S. debt ceiling amid growing opposition within the GOP on the tentative deal that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed over the weekend. Australia will publish its seasonally adjusted April inflation figures, and a rate decision from Thailand's central bank, among others. In Australia, futures for the S&P/ASX 200 were at 7,187, lower than the index's last close of 7,209.3, ahead of its unemployment figures for April. Economists polled by Reuters expect the country's weighted inflation rate in April to slow slightly to 6.4%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is set to fall further despite a late rally in Tuesday session, with futures at 18,260 compared to the HSI's close of 18,595.78.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden Organizations: GOP, Nikkei, Reuters Locations: Asia, Pacific, Australia, Thailand's, Japan, Chicago, Osaka, 31,328.160

But the dollar and European stocks slipped, dented by uncertainty about whether Congress will approve the deal after a handful of hard-right Republican lawmakers said on Monday they would oppose the bill, though it is expected to pass. The pan European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 0.2% after recording on Friday its biggest weekly decline in two months. U.S. 10-year bond yields dropped 9.7 basis points to 3.72%, while 30-year yields fell 8 bps to 3.89%. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against six peers, fell 0.26% at 104.03 after rising to a two-month high in earlier trading. Elsewhere, euro zone bond yields fell after Spanish inflation data came in lower than expected, raising hopes that the European Central Bank may raise interest rates less than previously feared.

☆ Asian stocks dip as investors question consequences of US debt deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Scott Murdoch | Thomson Reuters | Scott Murdoch Has Been A Journalist For More Than Two Decades Working For Thomson Reuters | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The package still has to be approved by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-controlled Senate before the debt limit is reached, likely by next Monday. The bond market is implying there is an extreme 70% probability on a U.S. recession in the next year. Australian shares (.AXJO) were down 0.11% while the Nikkei stock index (.N225) rose 0.36%, after the Japanese benchmark hit a 33-year high on optimism over the U.S debt deal and a weaker yen, which helps the country's exporters. Benchmark 10-year yields dropped 6 basis points during Asian trade to 3.7616% while thirty-year yields fell 6.3 bps to 3.9134%. With the debt deal heading to Congress for approval, JB Were analysts said there could be up to $600 billion worth of bill issuance in the next six to eight weeks.

The easiest trade of the year is fizzling, and the lost momentum is keeping investors' money out. "I will not put any more money into stocks until all my losses are recovered," he said. Interviews with a dozen more small investors showed the sentiment to be reasonably widespread. Brokerage account creation, while volatile, likewise dropped off in April after promising momentum in February and March, China Securities Depository and Clearing data showed. "It is as if stocks are losing faith in the China recovery story," said Grow Investment Group chief economist Hong Hao.

In Asian trade, longer-dated U.S. Treasuries rallied on Tuesday as bond traders welcomed the deal to suspend Washington's borrowing limit. "There's still a huge disconnect between bond markets and equities. The deal suspends the debt ceiling until January 2025 in exchange for caps on spending and cuts in government programmes. While U.S cash markets were closed on Monday, S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.32%, reflecting the positive reaction to the debt deal. With the debt deal heading to Congress for approval, JB Were analysts said there could be up to $600 billion worth of bill issuance in the next six to eight weeks.

The easiest trade of the year is fizzling, and the lost momentum is keeping investors' money out. Interviews with a dozen more small investors showed the sentiment to be reasonably widespread. Brokerage account creation, while volatile, likewise dropped off in April after promising momentum in February and March, China Securities Depository and Clearing data showed. "It is as if stocks are losing faith in the China recovery story," said Grow Investment Group chief economist Hong Hao. China's April industrial output and retail sales growth undershot forecasts as the recovery turned wobbly.

Persons: Eric Yu, Yi Huiman, Hong Hao, Wang Zaizheng, Chi Lo, Hayden Briscoe, Meng, Jason Xue, Winni Zhou, Tom Westbrook, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: China Securities Regulatory, JPMorgan, China Securities Depository, Mutual, Grow Investment Group, Management, UBS Asset Management, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, SINGAPORE, China's, Shanghai, China, United States, Hong Kong, Asia, Pacific, Singapore

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - A person jogging passes the Sydney Opera House as the rising sun reflects off buildings in the central business district (CBD) on September 28, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. The U.S. Congress is set to vote on the legislation as early as Wednesday. Lawmakers have not signaled that they intended to return to Capitol Hill early to work on the deal. In Australia, futures for the S&P/ASX 200 were at 7,224, higher than the index's last close of 7,217.4. Hong Kong stocks meanwhile are set to touch new lows for the year, with Hang Seng index futures at 18,522, headed to mark a fifth straight session of losses.

☆ Stocks rise on US debt ceiling deal but China drags
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% while Nasdaq futures firmed 0.5%. After weeks of negotiations, congressional Republican McCarthy and Biden agreed on Saturday to avert an economically destabilising default by suspending the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until 2025. In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 0.2%, with falls in Chinese and Hong Kong shares offsetting gains seen elsewhere. U.S. shares rallied at the end of last week on hopes of a debt ceiling deal and bets on artificial intelligence firms. Elsewhere in the currency markets, the dollar index - a measure of the greenback against its major peers - was a touch lower at 104.17 as risk-sensitive currencies staged a rebound.

☆ Asian shares, US futures rise on debt ceiling deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The positive news lifted S&P 500 futures 0.2% in Asia while Nasdaq futures firmed 0.4%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) gained 0.3%, after a 1.1% drop the previous week. Two-year yields hit a 2-1/2 month high of 4.6390% on Friday on markets bets of higher Federal Reserve rates for longer. U.S. shares rallied at the end of last week on hopes of a debt ceiling deal and on optimism about artificial intelligence. However, it is still not too far from a two month high hit on Friday.

U.S. President Joe Biden hosts debt limit talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2023. Asia-Pacific markets are largely set to rise ahead after U.S President Joe Biden and congressional leaders reached a tentative deal to raise the debt ceiling over the weekend. The Nikkei previously reached 33-year highs last week, marking an intra-day high of 31,331.62 on May 23. In Australia, futures for the S&P/ASX 200 were at 7,245, higher than the index's last close of 7,154.8. Stocks in Hong Kong are set to buck the trend despite the overall optimism, with Hang Seng index futures at 18,536 compared to the HSI's close of 18,746.92.

☆ Asian shares rise as investors cheer US debt ceiling agreement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Asian stocks mostly rose on Monday as investors cheered an agreement in principle between the White House and House Republicans to raise the US debt ceiling that could avert a cataclysmic default. The index has rallied more than 20% this year, outpacing global benchmark indexes including the S&P 500 and the Stoxx 600. WTI crude, a US benchmark, rose 0.9% to $73.32 a barrel. The agreement seems to mark “a significant progress in the US debt ceiling situation,” said Jun Rong Yeap, an analyst at IG. China and Japan are the largest foreign holders of American debt, owning a combined $2 trillion in US Treasuries.

☆ China thesis lurches from one lazy extreme to next
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, May 25 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Foreigners that once piled into offshore Chinese equities are evacuating as confidence in the country’s economic recovery sags. The China trade has always been unbalanced towards overseas-listed Chinese consumer and internet firms, and foreigners preferred building factories, acquiring large stakes in companies and the like over portfolio trading. Even at a peak in 2021, they held barely over 8 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) of yuan-denominated Chinese stocks and bonds, per official data, compared to $27 trillion of American equivalents. Now the former figure has fallen below 7 trillion yuan. Major Chinese indexes in Hong Kong and New York have also slid, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index having lost around 15% in the last three months.

☆ Asian stocks inch up on US debt ceiling hopes, Nikkei hits 33-year high
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index (.AXJO) rose 0.66%, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) continued its ascent, rising to its highest since August 1990, during the country's so-called bubble era. Futures indicated European stocks were set to open higher, with Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.44%, German DAX futures up 0.41% and FTSE futures up 0.23%. China's blue-chip CSI300 Index (.CSI300) rose 0.20%, while the Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC) was up 0.13%, having reversed from earlier losses. Hawkish rhetoric from Fed speakers continued with Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard saying inflation was not cooling fast enough to allow the Fed to pause its interest-rate hike campaign. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose 0.029% and was wedged near a two-month high.

☆ Asian shares mixed as China growth worries crimp U.S. debt ceiling optimism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) eased 0.20% but was set to eke out a gain of 0.19% for the week. Data in the week underscored that China's economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter, stoking worries over the wobbly post-COVID-19 recovery. Investor attention has been firmly on the negotiations over U.S. debt ceiling and increasing hopes that a deal could be reached sent U.S. shares higher overnight . Hawkish rhetoric from Fed speakers continued with Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard saying inflation was not cooling fast enough to allow the Fed to pause its interest-rate hike campaign. U.S. crude fell 0.14% to $71.76 per barrel and Brent was at $75.78, down 0.11% on the day.

☆ China's economy is growing again. So why are investors dumping stocks?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Investors trimmed their exposure to China amid economic uncertainty in the country, rising geopolitical tensions and Beijing’s crackdown on international consulting firms. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index has lost more than 5% since April 18. Another concern for global investors is the country’s “fundamental investability,” he said, referring to geopolitical and Chinese policy risks. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, one of the world’s largest pension funds, has closed its Hong Kong-based China equity investment team. “The more cracks appear in Western economies,” the more global investors will need to put money into Chinese assets, he added.

☆ Asian stocks follow Wall Street higher amid debt ceiling optimism
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

As investors drew comfort from that reassurance, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares (.MIAP00000PUS) pushed 0.78% higher. "Markets have chosen to be optimistic," Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank, wrote in a client note. Any advance above 30,795.78 would take it to the highest since 1990, when Japan's bubble economy had still to burst. Long-term U.S. Treasury yields eased back in Tokyo after rising to the highest since March 1 at 3.589% in New York. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar surged the most in three weeks to 137.72 yen , just 0.06 yen below its highest since March 8.

☆ Asian shares muted, US debt ceiling talks weigh on risk appetite
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) - Asian shares were subdued on Wednesday and the dollar hovered around a five-week peak as investors remained risk averse, with the U.S. debt ceiling talks and a mixed set of economic data weighing on sentiment. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was down 0.09% in choppy trading, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index (.AXJO) down 0.45%. Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy edged closer to a deal to avoid a looming U.S. debt default Tuesday. After an hour of talks, McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives, told reporters the two sides remained far apart on an agreement to lift the debt ceiling. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose 0.01% to 102.61, inching closer to the five-week high of 102.75 it touched on Monday.

☆ Asian shares tentative, US debt ceiling talks weigh on risk appetite
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) - Asian shares were subdued on Wednesday and the dollar hovered around a five-week peak as investors remained risk averse, with the U.S. debt ceiling talks and a mixed set of economic data weighing on sentiment. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was 0.20% lower, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index (.AXJO) was down 0.56%. U.S. stock indexes closed down overnight, hamstrung by dour forecast from Home Depot and April U.S. retail sales data that underscored softer consumer spending. "These actually came in on the lower end of expectations though the news was mixed, with a lower headline but higher core sales figures muddying the message." Recent economic data indicates slowing in the U.S. economy following a string of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to fight high inflation.

Asia-Pacific markets are trading mixed as the region looks to economic data from several countries, including Japan and Australia. South Korea's Kospi traded close to the flatline on Wednesday, while the Kosdaq saw a 0.49% gain. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.79%, dragged by mining stocks as investors await the nation's wage price index later today. The wage price index measures changes in the price of labor in Australia, and is a key metric when the country considers its monetary policy. In Hong Kong, futures for the Hang Seng index were at 19,884, lower than the HSI's last close of 19,978.25.

☆ Asian shares inch up as investors brace for China data, Fed speakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The guarded optimism is set to extend to Europe when markets open, with pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.2%. Both S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were mostly flat. China is due to report monthly industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment data on Tuesday. "However, with China's data throwing up a few concerns of late - we've seen poor import, PPI, and loan data - China's growth is very much at the heart of market moves," said Weston. U.S. crude futures fell 0.6% to $69.61 per barrel, while Brent crude futures were down 0.6% to $73.68 per barrel.

☆ Asian shares on edge for China data, Fed speakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On Monday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) wobbled between losses and gains and was last up 0.1%. China is due to report monthly industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment data on Tuesday. Very much on investors' mind was the uncertainty about lifting the U.S. debt ceiling and the return of bank worries. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was little changed at 3.4588%, after rising 6 basis points on Friday, and two-year yields eased 2 basis points to 3.9830%, having also jumped 10 basis points in the previous session. U.S. crude futures eased 0.5% to $69.71 per barrel, while Brent crude futures were down 0.6% to $73.74 per barrel.

Asia-Pacific markets are trading mixed after two out of three major U.S. indexes recorded a second straight week of losses, fueled by concern over the U.S. debt ceiling and disappointing economic data. U.S. President Joe Biden and congressional leaders postponed a meeting set for Friday to the following week. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 opened marginally lower, along with South Korea's Kospi and Kosdaq, which lost 0.24% and 1.02% respectively. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.51%, with the Topix also 0.5% higher on Monday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index looks set for a lower open, with contracts tied to the index at 19,421 compared to the HSI's last close of 19,627.

SHANGHAI, CHINA - MARCH 7, 2023 - The Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Tower, Jinmao Tower and World Financial Center are seen on Lujiazui Street, Shanghai, China, March 7, 2023. Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed after Wall Street saw a tech rally as U.S. consumer price index rose less than expected for April. The consumer price index showed a reading of 4.9%, slightly less than the 5% gain anticipated by economists polled by Dow Jones. Investors in Asia will be closely watching the inflation print from China for April as well later Thursday, forecasted to come in at 0.3%, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Futures tied to Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 19,725, lower than the HSI's last close of 19,762.

☆ Stocks stumble in jittery mood ahead of US inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

S&P 500 futures were steady and European futures rose 0.1%. "That's the thing that'd get taken out if CPI numbers come in on the higher side," said ING economist Rob Carnell. "It doesn't look particularly sensible if inflation is falling at too slow a rate and that could feed through into higher longer-term treasury yields as well." Interest rate futures imply about a 60% chance the Federal Reserve cuts rates in September, according to the CME FedWatch tool. "But the debt ceiling drama, and market participants’ focus on rate cuts is unlikely to change much from one CPI report.

☆ Stocks stumble as investors' nerves show ahead of US inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

SINGAPORE, May 10 (Reuters) - Stocks were struggling to advance in Asia and the dollar was firm on Wednesday ahead of U.S. consumer price data that could damage hopes for interest rate cuts later this year if inflation fails to show much of a decline. Overnight the S&P 500 (.SPX) fell 0.5% and S&P 500 futures were steady in the Asian morning. A firm U.S. dollar pushed the euro back below $1.10 to $1.0971. Treasuries were broadly steady overnight, though debt-ceiling brinkmanship is warping the bills market as investors avoid bills maturing early in June. The dollar was also firm at 135.14 yen and has lifted slightly from recent lows on the Aussie , kiwi and sterling .

Search resuls for: "HSI"

25 mentions found