Asian shares bounced back on Friday after two days of losses, as news of a call between leaders Xi Jinping and Joe Biden offered some relief to traders struggling to interpret choppy market reactions to central banks’ cautious moves to end stimulus.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.8 per cent, reversing losses in recent days to sit just 0.5 per cent lower compared to last week’s close, in line with the global trend.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.05 per cent, and the broader Topix index touched its best level since 1990, with the risk-friendly mood helping extend the rally kicked off in late August by hopes for a new government.
US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, firmed 0.27 per cent, and in early European trading pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.31 per cent and FTSE futures were up 0.28 per cent.
US president Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi spoke for 90 minutes in their first talks in seven months on Thursday, discussing the need to avoid letting competition between the world’s two largest economies veer into conflict.
Following the announcement of the call, Chinese blue chips extended early gains to be up 1.01 per cent, the yuan, traded both onshore and offshore, gained on the dollar, as did the risk sensitive Australian dollar.
Oil also gained with Brent crude up 0.66 per cent, at $71.92 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude at $68.53 a barrel, up 0.57 per cent
However, observers cautioned against over interpreting one telephone conversation as a sign of a broader rapprochement between China and the United States, whose relations are at their lowest point in decades.
“There were some small market moves after the news of the call, but it’s not a fundamental change, markets are still more concerned about Fed tapering and China regulation,” said Gary Ng, an economist at Natixis in Hong Kong.
“If there were a significant change in China-US relations that would be different, but at the moment both sides are still accusing the other of playing politics.”
China regulation was also a factor in Hong Kong where the benchmark rose 1.74 per cent, as traders judged a sell-off in Chinese tech stocks the day before might have gone too far.
Reports that authorities had summoned gaming firms for a talking to had spooked investors who are still struggling to interpret a series of regulatory crackdowns that have roiled sectors from property to fintech.
But traders were cautious when buying the dip.
“I think most investors will wait until the dust settles and see whether is there is enough clarity before they can act, at this point in time it’s extremely difficult,” said John Lau, head of Asian equities and a senior portfolio manager at SEI, referring to Chinese tech names.
Elsewhere, Australia’s main stock index gained 0.53 per cent as mining stocks rose after aluminium prices hit multi-year highs, and Korea gained 0.34 per cent.
The more positive mood in Asia followed choppy trading overnight after the European Central Bank said it would slow emergency bond purchases implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic, and strong US jobs data.
“Risk sentiment flip-flopped through the overnight session, initially reacting positively to the ECB meeting and evidence of ongoing strength in the US labour market. However, US equities ended in the red, likely reflecting concerns about the timing of central bank tapering and ongoing Delta woes,” said analysts at ANZ.
Investors normally interpret better employment figures as a sign the Federal Reserve is less likely to delay trimming its massive asset purchases, which have been supporting share prices in recent months.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes edged up in Asian hours 1.3089 per cent compared with its US close of 1.3 per cent. – Reuters
