Asia stocks drop after biggest jump since June
Treasury yields dipped and equity gauges dropped from Tokyo and Seoul to Sydney after news of further coronavirus infections on a cruise ship off Japan
Asian stocks fell after their biggest daily jump since June, and U.S. futures slipped after Wall Street notched a fresh record high, as the global rally in risk assets took a pause Friday.
Treasury yields dipped and equity gauges dropped from Tokyo and Seoul to Sydney after news of further coronavirus infections on a cruise ship off Japan offered a reminder that cases remain on the rise. Shares opened lower in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Confidence that the epidemic won’t derail the 2020 global expansion has helped put global shares on course for the best week since June. The dollar was flat ahead of the key monthly U.S. payroll report. Oil held above $51 a barrel in New York.
Asian stocks headed for the biggest weekly advance since June 2019, even after a record market-capitalization wipe-out for domestic Chinese shares on Monday. Some strategists have cast doubt on the global rally given how much of China’s economy remains shut down, though corporate news has helped give bulls encouragement. In Japan, Softbank Group Corp.’s stock jumped after reports that activist Paul Singer’s Elliott Management has built a stake in the company.
Here are some key events coming up:
German industrial production is due on Friday.
The U.S. employment report for January is set for Friday release.
And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
Japan’s Topix index fell 0.2% as of 10:42 a.m. Tokyo time.
Futures on the S&P 500 were down 0.1%.
Shanghai Composite fell 0.3%.
Hang Seng Index was down 0.6%.
Kospi Index dropped 0.7%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.5%.
Currencies
The yen ticked up 0.1% to 109.90 per dollar.
The offshore slipped 0.1% to 6.9829 per dollar.
The euro was little changed at $1.0983.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell almost 1 basis point to 1.64% Thursday.
Australian 10-year yields fell about 4 basis points to 1.05%.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $51.29 a barrel.
- Gold was little changed at $1,566.93 an ounce.
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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.