Asian stock market showed a mixed response due to long Easter weekend; crude prices increased as there were reports of US ending waivers on Iranian oil exports. Meanwhile, Nikkei was slightly high, and trade was sloppy due to the Golden week holiday.
In the market
Stocks: The Chinese stocks fell as there were reports that the stimulus by Beijing will be limited. The MSCI Asia Pacific broadest index saw a fall of 0.1%; the Shanghai Composite fell by 1.2% while the Nikkei increased by 0.1%. The South Korean Kospi after ups and downs ended slightly higher by 0.1%. S%P 500 futures also saw a reduction of 0.2%.
The investors are looking for signs on whether the central bank’s across the world will help the economic growth with their monetary policy. The week will see a lot of swing in the market as many big tech companies will release their earnings reports and then on the U.S. GDP first quarter data. Japanese investors will be cautious as they are set to start a 10 day holiday. The Japanese market was mostly strong this April as there were positive signs from the Chinese export data as that indicates good earnings expectations from Japanese companies too. JP Morgan Asset Management strategist Shogo Maekawa said
‘The market has priced in the positive news from China and it is waiting for another strong cue. Either bright news from Japanese corporate earnings starting later in the month or a sign of economic recovery in Europe would push up the market further.’
Many Japanese companies like Sony Corp, Hitachi, Komatsu, TDK Corp, etc. will release their earnings report in April.
Currencies: The yen held its value and was at 111.92 for a dollar. The dollar spot index increased by 0.1% against the basket of currencies. The yuan was at 6.7127 for a dollar a fall of 0.2%, the euro remained unchanged and was at $1.1242, and the pound was at $1.2996.
Treasury bonds: The US 10-year treasury bond yields were at 2.57% an increase of 1 basis point. The dollar ended higher when compared to the treasury yields.
Commodities: The WTI was at $65.44 for a barrel a gain of 2.3%. Iron ore prices increased.
In the oil market, oil prices rose to the highest since November 2018 as there were reports that the U.S. government will end sanction waivers that allowed many countries to import Iranian crude.
