Mixed stocks as rally stalls; Yen down: Markets close

(Bloomberg) – Asian equities traded mixed on Wednesday as traders juggle lingering doubts about trade prospects, with China's signs of recovery and measures to end the government shutdown American. The yen slipped when the Bank of Japan cut its inflation outlook.

Shares slipped in Japan, rose in Korea and fluctuated in Hong Kong and China. US futures contracts stabilized after Tuesday's decline in all major benchmarks, led by a decline in technology stocks. European contracts report small losses. White House advisor Lawrence Kudlow said negotiations scheduled for next week would be "very, very important" and "decisive". Meanwhile, the Senate has scheduled a vote Thursday on a democracy-backed bill aimed at reopening the government, the first sign of a possible one. get out of the way. The Chinese central bank has injected liquidity into the banking system via a new tool.

The yen extended losses against the dollar after the Bank of Japan left its policy unchanged and further reduced its inflation outlook. The yuan rose even after the People's Bank of China offered 258 billion yuan ($ 38 billion) to banks through its medium-term loan tool, as part of efforts to encourage small loans. businesses and support growth.

"Investors are obviously still a bit nervous, so we expect volatility to continue," said Mark Hackett, head of investment research at Nationwide Funds Group, which manages $ 60 billion. "While headlines continue to shake our nerves about the global slowdown, trade wars and government closures, it's easy to scare investors, but we think they're temporary rather than permanent."

Elsewhere, oil has reduced its losses to more than $ 53 per barrel. The pound stabilized after the signing by the British Parliament 's approach to a plan to delay Brexit.

Here are some events that investors will be watching in the coming days:

• The results season is in full swing: IBM, United Technologies, Texas Instruments and Ford are among the companies posting this week's results.
• The World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of world leaders in the political, economic and cultural spheres, continues in Davos, Switzerland.
• There are monetary policy decisions for the Bank of Korea and the European Central Bank, both on Thursday.

And here are the main movements of the markets:

stocks

• The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index fell 0.3% to 16:10. Tokyo time.
• The Japanese index Topix fell 0.6% at the close.
• The Hang Seng index remained stable after oscillating between gains and losses.
• The Shanghai Composite Index has changed little.
• The S & P / ASX 200 fell 0.3%.
• The futures on the S & P 500 index rose 0.1%. The S & P 500 Index lost 1.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 2%.

Coins

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
• The euro rose 0.1% to reach 1,1337 USD.
• The pound sterling was little changed at 1.2952 USD after rising 0.5%.
• The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 109.64 dollars.
• The offshore yuan rose 0.4% to 6.7884 per dollar.

Obligations

• The 10-year Treasury bond yield increased by one basis point to 2.75%.
• Australian 10-year bonds yielded 2.29%.

Basic products

• West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.4% to $ 53.22 a barrel.
• Gold has changed little at $ 1,284.40 an ounce.

To contact the reporters on this story: Cormac Mullen in Tokyo at [email protected], Sarah Ponczek in New York at [email protected]

To contact the makers of this story: Christopher Anstey at [email protected], Ravil Shirodkar

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