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Asian stocks firm, take Fitch's China downgrade in their stride

Asian stocks traded higher on Wednesday, unfazed by a ranking downgrade to China by Fitch which activated a moderate domestic selloff as the world's. secondbiggest economy struggles to mount a strong postCOVID. healing.

In early European trades, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50. futures were up 0.55% at 4,970, German DAX futures. were up 0.39% at 18,391, FTSE futures were up. 0.64% at 7,996.

U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were up. 0.1% at 5,265.3.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan. was up 0.48%, after U.S. stocks ended the. previous session with moderate gains. The index is up 0.2% up until now. this month.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes. was at 4.3556% compared to its U.S. close of 4.366% on. Tuesday. The two-year yield, which increases with. traders' expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 4.7384%. compared to a U.S. close of 4.747%.

Fitch affirmed China's sovereign rating at 'A+' even though. the outlook was reduced to unfavorable and it anticipated economic. growth this year would slow.

These downgrades reflect mostly the current cyclical. circumstance in China, they are not forward looking. This means. that as and when China's economy improves, they will alter. their rating outlook to positive, said Chi Lo, BNP Paribas. Possession Management senior strategist. He added the Fitch move. followed a similar call by Moody's in December.

China's blue chip CSI300 index was off 1.11% after. previously opening flat while the Shanghai Composite was. down 1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index got away the selling. and was trading up 1.45%.

Australian shares were up 0.3%, while Japan's Nikkei. stock index was down 0.55%. The Nikkei is seeking to. test 40,000 points again, with the yen's slide seen assisting fuel. that push.

Nevertheless, additional weakness in the Japanese currency could. prompt authorities to intervene, specifically if the yen breaks. 152 per dollar. Any intervention moves though were not likely to. see the yen reinforce dramatically, analysts stated.

We don't expect the yen, with interest rates increasing in. Japan, that there will be significant upside in the currency in the. future, said Marcella Chow, senior strategist at JPMorgan. Property Management.

The Bank of Japan will be taking very little actions at a time. when a great deal of international reserve banks are contemplating cutting. rates suggests any yen moves greater will be restricted.

In Asian trade, the dollar rose 0.01% versus the yen to. 151.78. The currency is getting closer to its high this. year of 151.97 on March 27.

The European single currency was flat at $1.0856,. having actually acquired 0.64% in a month, while the dollar index,. which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies of. other major trading partners, was up at 104.14.

U.S. consumer price information due on Wednesday will be closely. watched by financiers as they seek instructions on the next move in. rates of interest. The information is expected to reveal a rise in headline. inflation to 3.4% year-on-year, from 3.2% in February.

Markets are looking at the data to respond to one question: is. inflation sticky or is the disinflation development in line with. Fed's expectations?, ANZ's economic experts said.

We think the data will suggest that inflation pressures are. waning slowly.

The prospect of a U.S. rates of interest cut as early as June is. now being considered by financial markets, with the inflation. reading viewed as essential to the reserve bank's next move.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones index ended up down 0.02%,. the S&P 500 got 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite. increased 0.3%.

U.S. crude ticked up a little to $85.34 a barrel. Brent crude increased to $89.52 per barrel.

Gold was a little higher. Spot gold traded at. $ 2,352.93 per ounce.

(source: Reuters)