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Asian stocks fell on Friday and a dollar gauge hovered near a record high ahead of key US jobs data that could stir expectations for another sharp Federal Reserve interest-rate hike.
A region-wide equity index shed more than 0,5 percent, hurt by a retreat in Chinese tech shares. US futures were in the red and European contracts pared an advance. Wall Street snapped a four-day losing streak to eke out modest gains.
The jobs update on Friday was expected to show healthy payrolls growth and follows a stronger-than-expected US manufacturing report. Traders increasingly anticipate another large 75 basis points Fed rate rise to cool inflation.
The two-year Treasury yield was close to the highest since 2007 against that backdrop, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index inched back but remained in sight of the unprecedented level hit Thursday. The euro strengthened.
Global bonds as a whole slumped into their first bear market in a generation: the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Total Return Index of government and investment-grade corporate bonds is down more than 20 percent from a 2021 peak.
A gauge of world shares is set for its worst week since June, roiled by ebbing bets on tempered Fed tightening after US central bank officials made it clear that they see the need for restrictive monetary settings for some time.
“We don’t have a lot of reasons to be bullish in this type of environment for the next couple of weeks and months,” Meera Pandit, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, said on Bloomberg Television.
“Yet when we think about the longer term perspective and the longer term investor, these are the types of level that can be fruitful in the long run.”
The payrolls report later Friday is projected to show a 298 000 gain and solid wage growth. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said there’s still some work to do to contain price pressures.
Europe’s energy crisis is another major fault-line in markets. Russia looks set to resume gas supplies through its key pipeline there, a relief for investors even as fears persist about more halts this winter.
Elsewhere, oil bounced above US$87 a barrel, undoing much of the losses sparked by China’s move to lock down the metropolis of Chengdu to curb Covid.
The latter step had amplified worries about the commodity demand outlook.
Gold struggled to hold above US$1 700 an ounce. Bitcoin was near US$20 000. – Bloomberg
Online Reporter