Sensex Today | Share Market Live Updates : Shares in Asia fell Friday tracking US stocks, as interest rate uncertainty and geopolitical tensions weighed on sentiment.
Australian and Japanese shares declined. Hong Kong markets are set to resume trading after a holiday, while mainland China and Taiwan will be closed for a second day. Contracts for US stocks edged higher in early Asian trading after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes both fell on Thursday.
Australian and New Zealand government bonds rallied Friday following gains for Treasuries in New York trading. The 10-year Treasury yield was steady in Asia after slipped four basis points to 4.31% in the previous session.
Oil extended gains as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a security cabinet meeting his country will operate against Iran and its proxies and will hurt those who seek to harm it. President Joe Biden told Netanyahu on a call that US support for his war would depend on new steps to protect civilians.
“If we get a direct conflict between Israel and Iran, that’s something that will likely restrict the supply of oil coming from the Middle East,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak Co. “That has not been an issue up until now, but it could become one very quickly.”
US nonfarm payrolls data due later Friday is expected to show more than 200,000 new roles added to the economy in March — a further sign of robust activity that may lead the Federal Reserve to keep rates higher for longer.
Fed Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said Thursday that rate cuts may not be needed this year if progress on inflation stalls. He was among the more than a half-dozen central bank officials speaking ahead of the release of the March jobs data. Meanwhile, Cleveland Fed counterpart Loretta Mester suggested the central bank could be getting close to the level of confidence it needs to begin lowering interest rates in the next few months.
In commodities, gold inched lower Thursday after touching a fresh record earlier in the week. Copper rallied to the highest in 14 months, extending gains that began in February in the bellwether industrial metal in response to rising supply risks.
Sensex Today Live : Weak US, Asian peers signal muted start for Indian markets, ahead of MPC meeting announcement
Sensex Today Live : Indian markets were headed for a muted open on Friday, following global peers in the US and Asia lower as Federal Reserve officials gave hawkish comments about the need to cut rates if inflation remained high. The Gift Nifty futures, at 8 am on Friday, was trading at 22,534, marginally ahead of the Nifty 50’s Thursday close of 22,514, indicating that the Indian markets may open in the green, but remain muted. Moreover, markets in India were also awaiting comments from RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das about the state of inflation in the country on Friday, after the Monetary Poilicy Committee finished reviewing the country’s monetary policy stance in its meeting from April 3-5. South Korean shares fell on Friday, tracking Wall Street’s losses overnight. The benchmark KOSPI fell 13.69 points, or 0.50%, to 2,728.31 by 0104 GMT. Hong Kong stocks opened slightly higher Friday morning as investors returned from a midweek break to play catch-up with the previous day’s gains in Asia. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.38 percent, or 62.83 points, to 16,787.93. Mainland Chinese markets are closed for a holiday. The words of caution from Federal Reserve officials on Thursday about the need to keep interest-rate cuts in check until inflation clearly slows snuffed a Wall Street stock rally and sparked a rise in bond prices. Global equity markets had risen after data showing an increase in new claims for U.S. unemployment benefits kept intact the outlook for the Fed to soon cut rates, ahead of a key jobs report due out on Friday. But several policymakers soon doused expectations that rate cuts were likely on the horizon as they endorsed a careful approach to the start of monetary easing. Wall Street closed sharply lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 1.35%, the S&P 500 1.23%, and the Nasdaq Composite 1.4%. MSCI’s gauge of global equity performance fell 0.61%. Oil extended advances on escalating tensions in the Middle East after blowing past the $90-a-barrel threshold in the previous session. Global benchmark Brent rose toward $91, near its highest since October, while West Texas Intermediate was at around $87. Gold prices took a breather after hitting an all-time high earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures settled 0.2% lower at $2,308.50 an ounce.
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