(Bloomberg) — Asian shares rose, helped by signs of a stabilization in the Chinese economy and a pullback in the dollar.
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Shares in Hong Kong and Australia rose after data showed China posted the highest retail sales growth in eight months. Japanese benchmarks rose about 0.8%, supported by yen weakness. American contracts have disappeared.
A gauge for the dollar ended a five-day gain, helped by comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that the central bank will be in no hurry to cut rates. The US two-year yield was little changed.
“We think a rate cut is on the horizon in December and we think there will be at least two cuts next year,” Salman Niaz, head of global fixed income for APAC ex-Japan at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said on Bloomberg Television .
“The strength of the dollar has clearly taken some of the returns away from local currency emerging market bonds, but we think the more attractive opportunity at the moment is in the hard currency aspect of emerging markets,” Niaz said, referring dollar-denominated bonds. debt.
Friday’s action provides a welcome respite for emerging market assets after suffering most of the week from developments surrounding newly-elected US President Donald Trump’s cabinet choices and shifting interest rate forecasts. A gauge of emerging market stocks remains on track for its worst week since June 2022, while a separate index of emerging market currencies is set to all but erase its gains for the year.
South Korean shares fell on Friday, under pressure from battery makers after news that Donald Trump could eliminate a tax credit for the purchase of electric vehicles. The won is in the spotlight after the country was added to the US Treasury Department’s “monitoring list” for currency practices.
In terms of key revenues, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. reports. later Friday after JD.com Inc, another Chinese consumption indicator, posted moderate sales growth.
Elsewhere, the dataset for publication in the region includes gross domestic product for Malaysia and Hong Kong. In India the markets are closed.
On the commodity side, oil was heading for a weekly decline, weighed down by the impact of a stronger dollar and worries that the global market will turn into a glut next year. Gold remained near a two-month low.
Resilient economy
Data from earlier Thursday in the US showed producer prices exceeded consensus forecasts. Unemployment claims fell below expectations and reached their lowest level since May.
Several policymakers in comments this week urged a cautious approach to further rate cuts, in light of a strong economy, persistent inflation concerns and broad uncertainty. Their comments come as the stock market shows signs of fatigue following a post-election surge that fueled calls for a pause, with several measures highlighting traders’ “stretched” optimism.
In the US, the S&P 500 fell 0.6%, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%. Automakers like Tesla Inc. and Rivian Automotive Inc. collapsed when Reuters reported that US President-elect Trump plans to eliminate the $7,500 consumer tax credit for the purchase of electric vehicles. Walt Disney Co. jumped to victory.
Main events this week:
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US retail sales, Empire production, industrial production, Friday
Some of the major moves in the markets:
Stocks
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S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% as of 11:33 a.m. Tokyo time
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Japan’s Topix rose 0.9%
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Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%
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Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.1%
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The Shanghai Composite fell 0.1%
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Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.5%
Currencies
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
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The euro was little changed at $1.0539
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The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 156.44 per dollar
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The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 7.2448 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
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Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $88,075.74
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Ether fell 1.5% to $3,071.01
Bonds
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The yield on ten-year government bonds rose by three basis points to 4.46%
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The Japanese ten-year yield rose by 1.5 basis points to 1.070%
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The Australian ten-year yield fell by five basis points to 4.64%
Raw materials
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West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $68.26 a barrel
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Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,567.43 an ounce
This story was produced with the help of Bloomberg Automation.
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