Asian stocks retreat after US tech giants slide: markets wrap

Asian stocks slipped Thursday after US technology giants dragged Wall Street benchmarks down amid dimming prospects for fresh stimulus. Treasury yields ticked lower.

Stocks saw modest declines across the region, though Chinese equities edged higher. S&P 500 futures were little changed after the gauge slid from a record, and the Nasdaq 100 had its biggest slump in a month. Facebook Inc. sank after being sued by US antitrust officials, while Tesla tumbled as JPMorgan Chase & Co. called it “dramatically” overvalued. The dollar was steady and the pound fell amid a stalemate in Brexit negotiations.

Talks between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ended without a breakthrough on Wednesday night as large gaps remain between the two sides. They agreed to continue talks over the next few days. Meantime, iron ore futures jumped to more than $150 a ton, while crude oil edged higher.

Equities are coming under pressure as a US stimulus deal remains elusive amid the most-intense negotiations over a Covid-19 package since Election Day. The Democratic and Republican lawmakers working on a relief plan delivered a more-detailed summary of their proposal, but haven’t yet resolved the deadlock over a business liability shield as well as aid to state and local governments.

“The idea here is that you’re not going to see a huge stimulus package,” Matt Brill, senior portfolio manager at Invesco, said on Bloomberg TV. “You are probably going to get something done, but it’s probably not going to be enough to put a lot of pressure on rates overall.”

Later Thursday comes the European Central Bank policy decision and a press briefing from President Christine Lagarde. Economists widely expect the central bank to increase and extend its pandemic bond-buying program.

Here are some key events coming up:

• The FDA meets to discuss the vaccine made by Pfizer/BioNTech on Thursday.
• Jobless claims data are due in the US on Thursday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 6 a.m. in London. The index declined 0.8% on Wednesday.
• Japan’s Topix index fell 0.2%.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.5%.
• Shanghai Composite rose 0.1%.
• South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3%.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.7%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures dipped 0.2%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
• The euro bought $1.2094, up 0.1%.
• The pound fell 0.3% $1.3361.
• The yen fell 0.1% to 104.43 per dollar.
• The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.5323 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 0.92%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4% to $45.72 a barrel.
• Gold was at $1,839.52 an ounce.