Asian shares flat, still on track for winning week

TOKYO - Asian shares flatlined on Friday but remained on track for a weekly gain, while crude oil prices pulled away from this week's 10-month lows.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was nearly unchanged on the day, and was up 0.4 percent for the week.

Japan's Nikkei stock index added 0.1 percent, on track to log a rise of 1 percent for a week in which it touched its highest levels since August 2015.

"The actual macro situation in Japan is pretty good," said Ed Rogers, head of Rogers Investment Advisors in Tokyo, who noted the country's streak of five quarters of positive gross domestic product numbers.

He said the dollar remained bolstered against the yen by the Federal Reserve's move to hike interest rates last week and leave the door open for further monetary tightening later in the year.

"We're not seeing global inflation, but we think the Fed will continue to move. That stone's rolling down the hill," Rogers said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index was at 7,814.01 around midday.

Longer-term, that will support the dollar and underpin Japanese shares, he added.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.1 percent at 97.488 , but up 0.3 percent for the week.

The euro was up slightly on the day at $1.1158 but was down 0.3 percent for the week, while the dollar was steady against the yen at 111.33, up 0.4 percent for the week.

"We're getting close to the end of the month, and fundamentals aside, there will be people selling dollars, so it will be easy for the yen to strengthen next week," said Mitsuo Imaizumi, Tokyo-based chief foreign exchange strategist for Daiwa Securities.

"We also need to keep an eye on the healthcare debate in Washington, because political turmoil tends to undermine the dollar," he said.

U.S. Senate Republicans offered a bill on Thursday to overhaul Obamacare, the next phase in the party's long war against the 2010 law enacted by then-President Barack Obama, though it remained unclear if the bill has enough support to pass the Senate.

On Wall Street overnight, U.S. shares put in a mixed performance, though the S&P healthcare index rose 1 percent and hit its fifth consecutive record close following the release of the Senate Republicans' bill.

U.S. economic data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, but remained at levels consistent with a tight labour market. Home prices also increased in April more than expected.

The Mexican peso added 0.2 percent after soaring 1 percent on Thursday as Mexico's central bank board raised interest rates, saying it wanted to anchor inflation expectations and take into account last week's move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike borrowing costs.

Crude oil futures pulled further away from this week's lows, though market sentiment remained fragile amid a global crude glut that has persisted despite OPEC-led output cuts.

Brent crude was up 0.3 percent at $45.36 a barrel. U.S. crude futures also rose 0.3 percent to $42.86 a barrel.

Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $1,251.35 an ounce, moving away from a five-week low touched earlier this week.

(Reporting by Lisa Twaronite; Editing by Eric Meijer and Richard Borsuk)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Dollar nurses losses as investors look to OPEC, US data

TOKYO - The dollar nursed losses on Tuesday as US Treasury yields came off of their multi-month highs, while volatile crude oil prices ahead of this week's oil producers' meeting kept investors' risk appetite in check.

Since the victory of US President-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 8, the dollar has soared in line with yields on US Treasury bonds, which have sold off on expectations that the Trump administration will embark on stimulus policies and boost inflation.

These expectations helped push up the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield to a 16-month high last week.

The dollar stood at 111.96 yen, off its overnight low of 111.35 but well below an 8-month high of 113.90 touched on Friday.

"The dollar has been pulling back now in response to volatile oil prices, after rising on expectations of what Trump will do," said Mitsuo Imaizumi, chief currency strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.

"Against the yen, it could even fall back to the 110 level, depending on what oil does, and we also have US data this week - although right now, the employment figures seem like a long time away," he said.

Crude oil prices have been on a roller coaster ride this week, as the market reacted to the developments on whether major producers would be able to reach an agreement on the contentious issue of output cuts at their meeting on Wednesday.

Later on Tuesday, investors will look to US third-quarter gross domestic product data as well as readings on consumer confidence and consumption for trading cues. They will be followed by the November employment report on Friday.

Data released early on Tuesday showed that Japan's unemployment rate in October held steady as the availability of jobs improved and household spending fell at a slower pace, a tentative sign that a robust labor market is lending support to domestic demand.

Political risks kept the euro in check, though it still managed to post a nearly two-week high of $1.0686 overnight. It last traded at $1.0615, flat from late Monday's North American levels.

Worries about Italy's banking system have been mounting ahead of a Dec. 4 referendum on constitutional reform, which could unseat the government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

More than 8 billion euros of legal claims against Monte dei Paschi di Siena, its weakening liquidity and the potential for more bad loan writedowns are among risks the bank says could scupper its 5-billion-euro rescue plan.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, scaled a nearly 14-year peak of 102.05 on Thursday before profit-taking and oil jitters brought it back down to earth. It was last at 101.160.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Asian shares bounce off 3-year lows while China's suffering goes on

TOKYO - Volatile global markets showed signs of a respite from the recent blood-letting on Tuesday, as bargain hunters helped Asian stocks off three-year lows hit on fears that China's economy was risking a hard landing, with Chinese shares losing another 5 percent.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan jumped 1.7 percent after an initial dip to three-year lows while Japan's Nikkei index also erased most of its early losses after an initial drop of 4.3 percent.

"There appears to be buyback as many markets look oversold after panicky selling in the last few days. Even the shares that had little business ties with China were sold," said Yukino Yamada, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

U.S. stock futures also gained 2.0 percent in Asia, paring a part of its 5-percent fall the previous day.

But mainland Chinese shares bucked the trend, with Shanghai Composite Index falling another five percent even after 15 percent fall in the last three days, including 8.5 percent drop on Monday.

"Global investors are cannibalizing each other. Calling it a market disaster is not an overstatement," said Zhou Lin, an analyst at Huatai Securities.

"The mood of panic is dominating the market ... And I don't see any signs of meaningful government intervention."

Underlining concerns about China, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday he hoped China would take action to stabilize its economy and that Tokyo had no plan for now to unveil its own new economic stimulus package.

MSCI's all country world index is up 0.2 percent in Asia after having fallen 3.8 percent on Monday to a 10 1/2-month low, its biggest fall in almost four years.

Global share markets have been hit by worries that the Chinese economy, the most important engine for the world economy, was growing at a much slower pace than Beijing's 7 percent target for 2015.

Investors are also unnerved by uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy. The Federal Reserve has said it plans to raise interest rates this year for the first time in almost a decade.

The heavy fall in share prices worldwide over the past week has sharply reduced expectations of a U.S. rate hike in September, but the outlook is far from clear.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, whose comments earlier this month sparked expectations of a hike in September, said on Monday that the Federal Reserve will likely begin raising rates "sometime this year."

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 Index fell 3.9 percent to a 10-month low on Monday. The CBOE volatility index, a key measure of U.S. equity volatility, shot up to more than 50 percent at one point for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Because some investors often fund their investment in risk assets by borrowing low-yielding euro and yen, the sell-off in shares helped send both currencies to seven-month highs.

The euro rose as high as $1.1715 while the yen strengthened to 116.15 to the dollar.

But both currencies stepped back in Asia. The euro slipped 0.7 percent to $1.1531 while the yen retreated to 120.02 to the dollar.

Oil prices also stabilized in Asia after having plunged more than 6 percent on Monday to 6 1/2-year lows.

U.S. crude futures traded at $38.73 per barrel, gaining a dollar from Monday's low of $37.75.

Brent crude futures last stood at $43.20 after having fallen to $42.23 on Monday.

Brent still stood not far from $36.20, its low hit in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, having fallen more than 66 percent from last year's peak.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com