Asian stocks rally, but still on track for quarterly losses
Most Asian stock markets rallied Wednesday after sliding to 3-year lows but concerns lingered over a weak outlook for commodities and China’s economic growth.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5 percent at 2137 EDT after plumbing its lowest since June 2012 on Tuesday on fears that China’s slowdown would curb its huge appetite for commodities and resources.
The index was on track for a 4 percent decline in September, extending losses for the quarter to 18.5 percent, the worst quarterly performance in four years.
Demand for the safe-haven yen eased in early Tokyo trade as global stocks steadied and some semblance of calm returned to markets, but traders said month-end and quarter-end flows meant that volatility is likely to remain a feature.
Currency traders said U.S. nonfarm payrolls data due on Friday could help strengthen, or weaken, the case for the Federal Reserve raising U.S. interest rates before the end of the year. In any case, the outcome of the report should set the tone for the dollar.
The market will also be keeping an eye on Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who is due to give welcome remarks at a conference later on Wednesday.
Commodity currencies languished while the U.S. dollar stood tall. The Canadian dollar stood near an 11-year low of C$1.3463 per dollar struck overnight.
The greenback, meanwhile, slipped 0.1 percent to 119.83 yen. The euro was steady at $1.1252.
Japan’s Nikkei brushed aside an unexpected drop in the country’s industrial output to gain 1.8 percent. It was still poised for a loss of 15 percent over the quarter, its deepest since 2010.
“The current environment represents a winding back of the overly bullish expectations of both commodity demand and Chinese growth – to a more balanced expectation of progressive, not exponential, growth,” said Angus Gluskie, managing director of White Funds Management in Sydney.
China’s CSI300 climbed 0.7 percent, helping reduce losses for the quarter to 28 percent.
The Hang Seng’s 0.8 percent gain also helped shrink losses to 21.2 percent for the quarter.
“Global equities are closing in on their worst quarter since 2011, with a number of factors fuelling fears in an already jittery market, including weak global growth, driven by deceleration in emerging markets, particularly China,” strategists at Barclays wrote.
“We recommend overweight positions in Japanese and European equities.”
South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.5 percent, bringing losses to 6.7 percent for the quarter.
Australian shares gained 1.1 percent, leaving them on track for a quarterly decline of 8.9 percent.
Investors drew some relief as mining and trading giant Glencore recovered 16.9 percent overnight having fallen to a record low at the start of the week on concerns over the company’s ability to withstand a prolonged decline in metals prices.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.5 percent to $4,993 a tonne, compared with a six-year low of $4,855 hit in August.
Prices of other industrial metals like aluminum and zinc also halted their recent routs overnight.
Commodities and the global financial markets still face a major test of nerves on Thursday, when the closely-watched Chinese Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is likely to show the country’s factory sector shrank for the second month in a row in September.
Crude oil futures dipped after U.S. inventories showed a weekly buildup that far exceeded analysts’ expectations.
U.S. crude fell more than 1 percent to $44.77 a barrel, while Brent slid 0.8 percent to $47.85.
Source: Reuters
