Asian Stocks Slide; Treasury Yields Pare Decline: Markets Wrap

(180521) -- NEW YORK, May 21, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, on May 21, 2018. U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday. The Dow rose 1.21 percent to 25,013.29, and the S&P 500 rose 0.74 percent to 2,733.01, while the Nasdaq increased 0.54 percent to 7,394.04. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) - Wang Ying -//CHINENOUVELLE_CHINE012504/Credit:CHINE NOUVELLE/SIPA/1805220847

Asian stocks traded lower Friday after a risk-off session in global markets where technology stocks retreated and Brazilian assets slumped. Treasury yields recovered some of Thursday’s decline.

Japanese and Australian shares edged lower while South Korean stocks showed modest losses. Chinese and Hong Kong shares hit their lows as China’s trade surplus came in narrower than expected. Earlier, U.S. benchmarks closed mixed, with the Nasdaq 100 falling the most in three weeks. Traders had flocked to Treasuries, igniting gains that at one point pushed the 10-year yield down nine basis points in a matter of minutes. The dollar fluctuated and the yen held gains. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell after disappointing data on euro-area exports and German factory orders.

Investors turn their attention Friday to this weekend’s G-7 meeting tin Quebec for clues on the trade outlook. U.S. President Donald Trump will find himself isolated from other leaders, with President Emmanuel Macron of France warning he will not sign the traditional joint statement unless progress is made on tariffs, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel promising to challenge Trump on the environment. European leaders will be able to press their request for exempting some EU companies from Washington’s revival of Iranian economic sanctions.

Elsewhere, Turkey surprised analysts by tightening monetary policy Thursday for the third time in less than two months, spurring a jump in the lira. Brazil’s central bank’s swap sale wasn’t enough to boost the real, and the country’s stock index slid 3 percent. Meantime, Argentina secured a $50 billion stand-by arrangement from the International Monetary Fund to help restore investor confidence. India’s 10-year yield rose past 8 percent for the first time since May 2015.

These are some key events to watch this week:

A potentially tumultuous G-7 Leaders’ Summit starts in Quebec Friday, through to June 9.These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 0.6 percent as of 2:14 p.m. Tokyo time. Topix index fell 0.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.2 percent. Kospi index fell 0.6 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell less than 0.05 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 0.1 percent.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell less than 0.05 percent. The Japanese yen rose less than 0.05 percent to 109.65 per dollar. The euro rose less than 0.05 percent to $1.1803.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 2.93 percent. Japan’s 10-year yield sank one basis point to 0.045 percent. Australia’s 10-year yield sank five basis points to 2.796 percent.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2 percent to $65.81 a barrel. Gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,296.53 an ounce. LME copper sank 1.3 percent to $7,236.00 per metric ton.

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