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GLOBAL MARKETS DJIA 33586.52 101.23 0.30% Nasdaq 12084.36 -3.60 -0.03% S&P 500 4109.11 4.09 0.10% FTSE 100 7741.56 78.62 1.03% Nikkei Stock 28052.30 418.64 1.51% Hang Seng 20588.78 257.58 1.27% Kospi 2536.56 24.48 0.97% SGX Nifty* 17722.00 37 0.21% *Apr contract USD/JPY 133.39-40 -0.15% Range 133.70 133.25 EUR/USD 1.0881-84 +0.20% Range 1.0888 1.0858 CBOT Wheat May $6.784 per bushel Spot Gold $1,993.25/oz 0.1% Nymex Crude (NY) $79.75 -$0.95 US STOCKS
Cyclical stocks that are sensitive to the performance of the economy led a market rebound, with investors parsing the latest monthly jobs report for potential clues about the path of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate policy.
Investors are bracing for another potential increase in interest rates at next month's Fed meeting following the March jobs data, which was released Friday when the stock market was closed and bond trading was abbreviated.
Major stock indexes opened the session lower and reversed course in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%. Small caps were a relative bright spot-the Russell 2000 index traded up 1%.
The S&P 500 edged up 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped less than 0.1%. Tech and other growth-oriented stocks are particularly vulnerable to higher interest rates owing to their potential to generate profit windfalls far out in the future.
ASIAN STOCKS
Japanese stocks were higher in morning trade, led by gains in electronics stocks as the yen weakened and concerns eased about aggressive policy tightening by central banks. USD/JPY was at 133.37, up from 132.60 as of Monday's Tokyo stock-market close. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield was down 1 basis point at 0.450%. Kazuo Ueda, the Bank of Japan's new governor, said Monday that he will maintain monetary easing and negative interest rates. Economic data are in focus for their policy implications. The Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.9% at 27874.90.
South Korea's benchmark Kospi was 0.5% higher at 2523.88 in early trade as battery and chemicals stocks advanced. EV battery makers LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI rose 2.4% and 2.0%, respectively. SK Innovation, the parent of EV battery maker SK On, also gained 3.4%. Chemical company LG Chem, which owns LG Energy Solution and is expanding its battery-material business rapidly, climbed 6.8%. Meanwhile, memory-chip maker SK Hynix was down 0.2%. Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics was up 0.2%.
Hong Kong stocks were higher in morning trade, recovering from losses last week. The benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.8% at 20688.02. Chinese real estate companies led gains. Citic Securities analysts said H-shares could sustain a broad uptrend through 2Q given improving macroeconomic conditions in China, rebounding trading sentiment, as well as an expected easing in the Fed's monetary tightening, which typically reduces pressure for riskier assets such as Asian equities.
Chinese shares were mixed in early trade, with focus on the just-released CPI and PPI data for March. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped into negative territory after opening higher and was down 0.2% at 3309.19, while the Shenzhen Composite Index was up 0.1% and the ChiNext Price Index rose 0.5%. The sharp easing of CPI growth in March has raised the likelihood of a PBOC rate cut, said Zhiwei Zhang, president of Pinpoint Asset Management, as there is now more room for growth-boosting fiscal and monetary policy. Pharma stocks led morning gains Telcos were lower.
FOREX
Asian currencies consolidated against the USD in early Asian trade amid cautious sentiment. Market participants are adopting a wait-and-see mode, with U.S. CPI data and FOMC minutes due this week, said Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at IG, in an email. The CPI data is likely to drive rate expectations, with any higher-than-expected CPI reading expected to aid a stronger USD, the analyst added. USD/KRW edged 0.1% lower to 1,319.27 while USD/SGD was little changed at 1.3324 and AUD/USD was up 0.3% at 0.6655.
METALS
Gold ticked up in the early morning Asian session in a likely technical rebound after settling at its lowest level in a week on Monday. The precious metal may also be supported by safe-haven demand, analysts said. The case for a U.S. economic slowdown remains, the World Gold Council said in market commentary. Gold is handy as "dry powder" during a recession as a weakened economy is more exposed to the "cracks from unprecedented monetary policy that are beginning to show, most notably in small U.S. banks and their intertwined commercial real-estate sector." Spot gold was 0.1% higher at $1,993.25/oz.
OIL SUMMARY
Oil edged higher in the early Asian session as traders assessed various developments. OPEC+ members have announced production cuts while Saudi Aramco is offering full contractual supply of oil for the next month to Asian countries, ANZ Research analysts said in a research report. Also, oil's exchange-traded funds have recently seen their largest outflow since 2019, which suggests the market remains worried about slowing demand, the analysts noted. Front-month WTI crude oil futures were 0.2% higher at $79.88/bbl; front-month Brent crude oil futures were up 0.1% at $84.28/bbl.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-10-23 2316ET
