HONG KONG: Asian stocks wobbled on Tuesday (Jun 27) as investors held tight ranges awaiting clues on the interest rate outlook and wary of risks about China’s shaky economic recovery and developments in Russia after an aborted mutiny.
MSCI’s gauge of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan was up 0.08 per cent at 1.26am GMT (9.26am, Singapore time), after dropping 0.06 per cent an hour earlier. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average fell as much as 1 per cent.
“Asian equities are set for a downturn on Tuesday, prompted by Wall Street’s risk-aversion behavior,” said Anderson Alves, a global macro analyst at ActivTrades.
All three major US stock indexes ended in the red on Monday, with megacap momentum stocks pulling the tech-heavy Nasdaq down the most.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.04 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.45 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.16 per cent.
“It’s significant to mention that a sense of caution prevails among investors with respect to the global economy’s trajectory over the forthcoming months,” Alves said. “The threat of a potential recession during a high-interest rate cycle, enforced by central banks, could significantly impact both the US and Europe, thereby influencing global trade, financing conditions, and demand.”
Hang Seng Index and China’s benchmark CSI300 Index opened up 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively, shaking off losses from the past four sessions.
S&P Global on Monday cut its forecast for China’s economic growth to 5.2 per cent in 2023, down from an earlier estimate of 5.5 per cent, underscoring the uneven nature of the country’s recovery from the pandemic.
Source: Reuters
