Asian equities ignore US futures reversal

Asia follows Wall Street’s drop

Wall Street fell during the main session overnight, as Walmart’s result and soft US confidence and housing data heightened recessionary fears and dampened sentiment. The S&P 500 finished 1.15% lower, the Nasdaq tumbled 1.87% lower, with the Dow Jones losing 0.74%. In Asia, the picture has been sharply reversed after both Alphabet and Microsoft gave upbeat future assessments, despite both slightly missing earnings forecasts. US index futures are sharply higher as a result. S&P futures are 0.78% higher, Nasdaq futures have jumped 1.56% higher, and Dow futures have gained 0.30%.

Asian markets are painting a different picture, mostly trading to the negative side, continuing a pattern of following the Wall Street main session price action, with continuing question markets over China risks. With the FOMC to come tonight, Asian markets also appear to be taking some risk off the table into the week’s main event.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 is just 0.15% higher, but South Korea’s Kospi has fallen by 0.55%. In China, markets are finding no solace from the China property fund or Ali Baba’s intention to create a Hong Kong main board listing, allowing retail investors to access its stock from Shenzhen and Shanghai. The Shanghai Composite is down by 0.28%, with the CSI 300 falling by 0.58%, while Hong Kong has slumped by 1.40%.

Singapore is 0.25% lower in regional markets, and Taipei has lost 0.55%. Kuala Lumpur is just 0.12% higher, while Jakarta and Bangkok are roughly unchanged, and Manila has lost 0.45%. Australian markets have not responded to inflation rising by less than anticipated today, the ASX 200 is 0.10% lower, and the All Ordinaries have eased by 0.15%.

European markets had another soft session overnight, dogged by slumping Russian natural gas exports to the Eurozone. That reality is set to continue hamstringing European equities, and ahead of the US FOMC this evening, European markets look set to continue trading from the soft side.

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.