Asian stocks halt recent losses, watch out for cenbank reduction By Reuters

By Alun John

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian stocks rallied on Friday after two days of losses, but were still in a nervous mood as global investors wondered how best to interpret cautious central bank measures to end the stimulus, which also left the currency markets alone.

MSCI’s largest Asia-Pacific stock index outside of Japan, gained 0.47% at the start of the session, but is still down around 0.8% from the week’s close last, in line with the global trend.

rose 0.25% and US equity futures, the, were flat.

Australia gained 0.4% as mining stocks rose after aluminum prices hit multi-year highs, and Chinese blue chips were also up 0.5%

But the gains were led by Hong Kong, with the local benchmark rebounding 1.5% after falling more than 2% the day before when Chinese tech stocks took another blow after authorities called. gaming companies for a word. But traders remain cautious about buying too much of the downside.

“At some point investors will say that in fact it’s the right price, it won’t go to zero,” said John Lau, head of Asian equities and senior portfolio manager at SEI, referring to Chinese technological names.

“I think most investors will wait until the dust settles and see if there is enough clarity before they can act, at this point it’s extremely difficult.”

Asian gains followed a wobbly Thursday as markets struggled to take a clear direction.

The reaction of the European Central Bank declaring in the next quarter that it would slow down emergency bond purchases implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic was limited by the fact that the ECB refrained from detailing how it plans to end its $ 1.85 trillion pandemic emergency procurement program.

“Risk sentiment shifted during the overnight session, initially responding positively to the ECB meeting and evidence of continued strength in the US labor market. Delta woes, ”ANZ analysts said.

The index fell 0.43%, lost 0.46% and fell 0.25%.

Investors normally interpret better jobs figures as a sign that the Federal Reserve is less likely to delay cutting back on its massive asset purchases, which have supported stock prices in recent months.

In addition, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman added her voice to a growing number of policymakers who say August’s weak jobs report is unlikely to reverse the central bank’s plan to cut its policies. $ 120 billion in monthly bond purchases later this year.

In currency markets, the euro held steady in Asian hours at $ 1.1820, after the ECB announcement helped it stem a few days of losses, as it fell from its high from the month established at the end of last week.

The dollar was also little changed against a basket of peers but on track for a weekly rise of nearly 0.5%.

The benchmark’s return edged up to 1.307% from its US close of 1.3%.

fell 0.1% to $ 68 a barrel. fell 0.15% to $ 71.34 a barrel.