Asia Stocks Track U.S. Futures Down; Dollar Steady: Markets Wrap
Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac, discusses Bank of Japan monetary policy and the yen.Asian stocks took their cue from a decline in U.S. futures to open lower and the yen consolidated after its biggest drop in two weeks. The dollar steadied and oil climbed in holiday-thin trading.
Japan’s Topix index dropped after staging it’s second-best performance this year, while shares in Australia and South Korea also fell after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined for the first time in four days. The yen steadied after retreating from a 15-month high. Treasuries declined.
European markets were the center of investor attention on Monday as U.S. stocks and Treasuries took a break for Presidents’ Day holiday. Traders return to their desks in Hong Kong on Tuesday, while Chinese markets reopen on Thursday.
Investor focus now turns to the U.S. Treasury, which opens its auction floodgates this week, beginning with $151 billion of short-term bills on Tuesday. With little in the way of significant economic data on the schedule, the sales will provide the clearest gauge yet of how steeply bond yields may rise in the world’s largest economy.
In Asia, investors will be watching Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s appearance in parliament on Tuesday for any hints about tweaks to the central bank’s huge monetary stimulus program. Speculation has been swirling about the possibility the BOJ is scaling back its stimulus since the central bank reduced its purchases of government bonds in January.
Elsewhere, oil climbed above $62 a barrel for the first time in more than a week as an alliance of some of the world’s largest oil producers signaled further cooperation to tighten supplies through the end of the year. Bitcoin broke above $11,000.
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