Most Asian stocks dipped Tuesday after US equities joined a global decline as a new variant of the coronavirus in the UK and a wave of lockdowns and travel restrictions hurt sentiment.
Japan underperformed as shares slipped across most major Asia-Pacific markets. S&P 500 futures were little changed after the benchmark fell Monday, with Tesla Inc. the biggest drag in its first day of trading on the gauge. The dollar and the yield on 10-year Treasuries were steady. Crude oil held below US$48 ($64.02) a barrel.
Global stocks have pulled back after touching a record high last week, with shares in Europe slumping Monday the most since October. The emergence of the variant coronavirus strain in Britain has dented the return-to-work trade, and for now is overshadowing progress on a US$900 billion US pandemic relief package and the initial rollout of vaccines. The House of Representatives passed the spending bill, with the Senate due to vote later in the day.
“What we’ve seen out of the UK is a scary thing for the markets, which could incentivize some profit-taking,” Steven Wieting, chief investment strategist at Citigroup Private Bank, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. But the arrival of the vaccine should be a “game-changer” in the long-run, he added.
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The pound slipped amid continuing Brexit trade talks. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a fresh proposal to secure an 11th-hour trade deal with the European Union. Europe and regions from Canada to Hong Kong suspended travel links to the UK, as a full lockdown came into force in London and southeast England to contain the coronavirus variant.
Here are some key events coming up:
- EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
- US jobless claims, durables, personal income data comes Wednesday.
- US bond and stock trading and markets in other parts of the world will shut early on Thursday for the Christmas holidays. Most global markets are shut Friday.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 12:01 p.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 Index sank 0.4%.
- Japan’s Topix index dropped 0.9%.
- South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.5%.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.7%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was little changed.
- Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3%.
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.7%.
Currencies
- The yen traded at 103.36 per dollar.
- The offshore yuan climbed 0.2% to 6.5369 per dollar.
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose less than 0.1%.
- The euro dipped 0.1% to $1.2231.
- The British pound slid 0.3% to US$1.3420.
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 0.93%.
- Australia’s 10-year bond yield was at 0.96%.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.4% to US$47.79 a barrel.
- Gold rose 0.4% to US$1,883.93 an ounce.
