Asian shares fall; treasuries rally after holiday: markets wrap

A gauge of Asian stocks fell while US futures rose amid subdued trading on Friday. Treasuries climbed as trading resumed after the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.

Hong Kong-listed technology stocks led declines among Chinese shares as investors weighed recent gains against an upswing in Covid-19 infections. Mainland benchmarks managed to eke out small gains in the face of lockdown-like restrictions affecting parts of Beijing.

The advance in contracts for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 follows commentary from Federal Reserve officials that supports the case a slower pace of interest-rate increases. The dollar fluctuated after three straight days of losses.

Malaysia’s ringgit extended a rally as the appointment of a new prime minister cleared the political gridlock that has gripped the nation since recent elections.

The won climbed after the central bank governor said he needs to see strong signs that inflation is under control before discussing any prospect of a pivot away from policy tightening.

Yields on Japan’s benchmark 10-year bond rose one basis point to 0.25%, the top of the central bank’s target band, after Tokyo’s inflation picked up more speed to hit its fastest pace in 40 years.

US markets will have a shortened session on Friday after the full-day closure Thursday.

Oil headed for a third weekly loss as the European Union weighs a higher-than-expected price cap on flows of Russian crude and slowdown concerns threaten the outlook for energy demand.

Gold was poised for a modest weekly gain.

The outlook for Chinese markets is improving, despite the current flareup in virus cases, according to Jun Bei Liu, a portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners.

“In the next 12 months things will get better. We have seen this playbook before across other economies,” she said on Bloomberg Television. “We’ll begin to see outperformance very soon in the next few quarters.”

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 2:39 p.m. in Tokyo.
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%.
• The Topix Index was little changed
• The Hang Seng Index fell 0.6%
• The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro was little changed at $1.0412
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 138.63 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1628 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 0.8% to $16,403.24
• Ether fell 1.8% to $1,174.75

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 3.65%
• Japan’s 10-year yield was at 0.25%
• Australia’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 3.58%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $78.50 a barrel
• Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1 758.22 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.