Quiet start for Asian markets
A quiet weekend of news, and a non-descript New York finish saw Asian markets content to remain hunkered down as the week starts, with much of Europe on holiday as well.
On Friday, New York had a mixed finish with markets indulging in a bit of cyclical rotation after some tech gains in previous sessions. The S&P 500 slipped 0.07%, with the NASDAQ falling 0.48%, while the Dow Jones climbed by 0.37%.
At the time of writing, futures on the S&P 500 and NASDAQ advanced by 0.25% in Asia, suggesting that last week’s rage-trading will continue this week. Taiwan rose 0.40%.
The Nikkei 225 rose by 0.40% while the KOSPI was flat. The Shanghai Composite and Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 were just 0.10% higher while Hong Kong fell 0.45% after more ructions amongst China tech executives over the weekend.
ASEAN markets hitched their cyclical recovery wagons to the Dow outperformance on Friday. Kuala Lumpur led the region higher, rising 0.80% after oil prices spiked on Friday.
Singapore was 0.35% higher with Jakarta edging up by 0.25%. Australian markets were subdued, perhaps with one eye on China’s commodity price displeasure. The ASX 200 and All Ordinaries rose just 0.15%.
Asia was definitely in wait-and-see mode today, with a light data calendar in Asia. Singapore releases its Inflation and Core Inflation Rates for April today, expected to rise to 2.0% and 0.90% respectively YoY.
Taiwan should release a strong data-set of Unemployment, Industrial Production and Retail Sales, which will be flattered by YoY effects.
We also receive Thailand Manufacturing, South Korean Consumer Sentiment plus their Manufacturing BSI tomorrow with China Industrial Profits Thursday and Malaysian Trade on Friday. The data should both reinforce the recovery theory and also that prices are rising.
Activity will ease this afternoon with the United Kingdom the only major market open across Western Europe. The US open is a lottery and will depend on headline risk, but they’ll probably buy the dip from Friday.