(Bloomberg) — A climb in Chinese stocks Thursday enlivened an otherwise listless session for Asian shares in the wake of another Wall Street all-time high on light volumes in the final days of the year.
China’s CSI 300 index was up about 1% on expectations of more steps to bolster economic growth amid calls for policy easing and reports that some personal income-tax cuts will be extended. In Hong Kong, artificial intelligence giant SenseTime Group Inc. jumped on its first day of trading.
MSCI Inc.’s overall Asia-Pacific gauge largely held its ground. U.S. and European equity futures were little changed after the S&P 500 eked out a gain to hit its 70th record close of the year on Wednesday.
The 10-year Treasury yield held an advance that took it above its 50-day moving average for the first time in about a month. Australia’s 10-year yield increased too, part of a global sovereign-bond retreat. A dollar gauge was steady and crude oil and iron ore rose.
As the year draws to a close, investors are contemplating the implications of the fast-spreading omicron coronavirus variant, decreasing stimulus and elevated inflation stoked by supply-chain bottlenecks. Key questions include whether Treasury yields will push higher and how much impetus is left in the equity bull market.
“Despite global surges in Covid cases, the markets are reflecting the new reality that Covid is here to stay albeit more on our terms than its,” Kevin Philip, managing director at Bel Air Investment Advisors, said in an email. Next year, “we are facing less of a Covid-influenced world, and a return toward normalcy,” he added.
Zero Tolerance
Chinese officials renewed their commitment to a zero tolerance approach to Covid-19 as they tackle a protracted outbreak in the western city of Xi’an. Micron Technology Inc. said output of some computer memory will be hit by the lockdown there.
China’s battered property developers and regulatory crackdown are again in focus heading toward 2022.
Developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. faces an initial deadline for coupon payments totaling $154 million on two dollar bonds Thursday. A unit of China Evergrande Group plans to cut its stake in China Calxon Group Co. after failing to repay debt in time.
Meanwhile, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is in talks over a possible sale of its stake in Weibo Corp., a Twitter-like social media service, to a state-owned Chinese conglomerate. Beijing is moving to curb the influence of China’s tech giants in the media sphere. Alibaba’s shares were steady in Hong Kong.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin extended its December retreat and was trading below $47,000.
What to watch this week:
- U.S. initial jobless claims, Thursday
For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% as of 12:56 p.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%
- Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
- Japan’s Topix index dropped 0.2%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.1%
- South Korea’s Kospi index shed 0.4%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.2%
- China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8%
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.1%
Currencies
- The Japanese yen was at 115.05 per dollar, down 0.1%
- The offshore yuan was at 6.3691 per dollar
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady
- The euro was at $1.1338
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at about 1.55%
- Australia’s 10-year yield increased nine basis points to 1.62%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude was at $76.82 a barrel, up 0.3%
- Gold was at $1,801.80 an ounce
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