Asia Stocks Slump as China Shares Drop, Yen Gains – 10 April, 2017

Asian stocks fell as Chinese shares slumped and the yen weighed on Japanese equities. Treasuries climbed amid increasing caution about geopolitical risks and the path of U.S. interest rates.

Chinese equities traded in Hong Kong fell toward a one-month low. Shares in Seoul extended the longest losing streak since June as tensions over both Syria and North Korearemain in focus. U.S. bond yields added to declines after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen confirmed that the central bank has shifted its focus to sustaining economic gains from post-crisis healing. Oil was steady after a five-day rally, its longest stretch this year.

The White House press secretary warned Syria to stop using barrel bombs against civilians, suggesting President Donald Trump may expand the criteria for action against Bashar al-Assad’s regime after last week’s missile attack on a Syrian airbase. South Korean assets have sold off amid speculation the U.S. could make a similarly aggressive pivot when it comes to Pyongyang.

Investors are also speculating on the path for interest rates, after Friday’s weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report. The Fed is aiming to ease back significantly this year on the level of support the central bank is providing the U.S. economy as they close in on their goals of full employment and 2 percent inflation.

“Before, we had to press down on the gas pedal trying to give the economy all of the oomph that we possibly could,” Yellen said Monday in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Fed is now trying to “give it some gas, but not so much that we’re pushing down hard on the accelerator.”

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What investors are watching:

• U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will visit Moscow this week to persuade Russia that its alliance with Assad is no longer in its strategic interest. He will also press Russia to uphold an agreement it brokered during the Obama administration to remove all chemical weapons from Syria.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will participate in a Q&A at a meeting of the Minnesota Business Partnership.
• The G-7 foreign ministers hold a news conference after a two-day meeting in Lucca, Italy.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Currencies

• The yen gained 0.2 percent to 110.68 per dollar as of 11:40 a.m. in Tokyo, strengthening for a second day. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
• The South Korean won dropped 0.6 percent, extending a six-day loss to 3.1 percent.

Stocks

• Japan’s Topix fell 0.5 percent, after a two-day advance. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 percent as energy shares advanced.
• South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7 percent, extending a selloff to a sixth straight sessions. The measure has lost 2.2 percent during that period.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.9 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid 1.2 percent. The gauge has dropped 4.8 percent from a 17-month high reached last month. The Shanghai Composite Index was little changed.
• Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 0.1 percent. The benchmark gauge climbed less than 0.1 percent on Monday, while the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, rose to the highest level this year. Volumes in many markets are down in a week that’s shortened in many countries by Easter holidays.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was flat on Monday, after a four-day rally to the highest since December 2015.

Bonds

• Treasuries rallied, with the yield on the 10-year note dropping 2 basis points to 2.35 percent, after a 2 basis point decline on Monday.
• Australian 10-year yields fell four basis points to 2.53 percent.

Commodities

• Oil was flat at $53.08 after jumping 1.6 percent on Monday. West Texas Intermediate crude has gained 5.7 percent over the past six sessions.
• Gold was little changed at $1,255.05 an ounce.
• Iron ore futures climbed 0.9 percent in China after dropping 1 percent in the previous session. The commodity fell into a bear market on Friday.