Asian stocks are set to open lower Tuesday, as traders return their focus to China’s efforts to halt its economic malaise after markets in the US were shut for the US Labor Day holiday.
Futures in Japan and Australia point to shares easing on Tuesday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index — which jumped almost 3% Monday before paring gains — is also set to fall. That comes after European shares failed to provide a strong lead for investors, with the Stoxx 600 gauge closing little-changed in low-volume trading after rising as much as 0.8% earlier.
China’s beleaguered property sector is getting a boost from the announcement that down-payment thresholds across the nation would be lowered, with Shanghai and Beijing seen as benefiting the most. A Bloomberg gauge of Chinese developers jumped as much as 8.7% on Monday, with sentiment improving further after news of a weekend surge in home sales in two of its biggest cities, an early sign that government efforts to cushion a record housing slowdown is helping.
China’s PMI composite and services data to be released Tuesday will provide further indications on whether Asia’s biggest economy is starting to emerge from its post-pandemic torpor.
“We have been looking for more significant property rescue measures for some time to shore up sentiment and consumer confidence,” UBS Global Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele said. “This now appears to be materializing in a more convincing way.”
On Monday, Europe’s consumer, travel and leisure and mining shares — sectors with exposure to China — advanced. Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S rose to a new record high, having just become Europe’s most valuable firm. Carmaker Mercedes Benz Group AG added 1% after unveiling a new, longer-range electric vehicle.
Meanwhile, expectations of crude supply cuts from the OPEC+ group kept oil futures near nine-month highs. WTI crude oil advanced after surging last week on Russia’s announcement that it will extend export curbs. Saudi Arabia — which along with Moscow sets the tone at the OPEC+ alliance — is widely expected by traders to follow suit by pushing its voluntary curbs into October.
Markets got a boost from a US jobs report on Friday that showed a steadily cooling labor market, offering the Federal Reserve room to pause rate increases this month. Some investors are convinced the central bank won’t hike rates further this cycle, bets that were reinforced after last week’s jobs data. At the same time, this year’s US stock market rally is strong enough to withstand another leg higher for bond yields, according to the latest Markets Live Pulse survey.
“The incoming data supports our view of a ‘softish’ landing for the US economy,” Haefele said.
US equity futures were subdued in Asia trading, and pointed to mixed performances when markets there reopen later Tuesday.
While Treasury markets were closed, bond yields inched higher in the euro zone, with rate-setters seemingly divided on whether policy needs to be tightened further this month, given above-forecast inflation and sluggish growth. In a speech in London, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde avoided signaling whether policymakers will raise or hold interest rates next week.
Elsewhere, Australia’s central bank is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged Tuesday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed for a second day after rallying 0.4% on Friday. – Bloomberg
