Asian Stocks to Rise After Soft US Inflation Print: Markets Wrap

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(Bloomberg) — Asian equities were primed for early gains Thursday after cooler-than-forecast US inflation helped Wall Street rebound from two days of heavy losses.

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Australian shares rose alongside equity index futures for Japan. Contracts for US stocks climbed in early Asian hours following advances in the underlying S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes on Wednesday. Even though the gains were the first since Friday for the US benchmarks, each remained over 3% lower this week. Hong Kong equity futures fell, tracking declines in an index of US-listed Chinese companies on Wednesday.

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Treasuries failed to meaningfully move on the inflation print. The US 10-year yield rose three basis points to 4.3%. The policy-sensitive two-year yield climbed four basis points. Major currencies held to tight ranges. An index of the dollar was little changed Wednesday. 

The muted moves and lack of a clear response to the inflation data in Treasuries was a further sign the uncertainty triggered by President Donald Trump’s trade policies weighed on sentiment across global markets.

“For the last three weeks, traders have felt like buying this market is like trying to catch a falling knife,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide. “But extreme oversold conditions and near-universal pessimism suggest a relief rally is likely.”

On Wednesday, Trump said the US would respond to the European Union’s countermeasures against his new 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, raising the risk of further escalation in his global trade war. Earlier in the day, Canada announced new 25% tariffs on about $20.8 billion of US-made products, including steel and aluminum, after the Trump administration went ahead with global levies on imports of the two materials.

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US CPI, and a separate measure that strips out food and energy prices, both rose 0.2% in February compared to the 0.3% consensus forecast. The better-than-expected result is a positive sign given the potential for tariffs to drive costs higher for American households.

“Despite the improvement provided by the latest consumer price index, uncertainty remains in the air as the outlook for inflation remains hazy due to trade policy developments, according to Oscar Munoz and Gennadiy Goldberg at TD Securities. “In this context, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to change its policy guidance anytime soon,” they said.

A government report on US producer prices due later Thursday will offer insights on additional categories that feed directly into the the Fed’s favored inflation gauge, which is scheduled for later this month.

In Asia, data set for release includes consumer confidence in Thailand, industrial production and producer prices in Hong Kong. Trade data for India may be released any time through March 17 while money supply data for China may be released any time through March 15.

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US Stocks

US equity gains were helped along by mega-cap tech. A gauge of the so-called Magnificent Seven group of stocks rose 2.3%, its best day since January. In late hours, Intel Corp. said it named industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as its next chief executive officer. Adobe Inc. gave a tepid outlook.

“Stocks moved up from extreme oversold conditions we have had in place over the last week or so,” said Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG. “While I think we’re at a tradable bottom, I don’t think it’s the final bottom,”

Elsewhere, Chinese authorities summoned Walmart Inc. executives over reports it asked suppliers to bear rising costs incurred by increased US tariffs.

The yen was steady. Bank of Japan officials see several reasons against intervening in the bond market even after benchmark yields hit the highest level since 2008, according to people familiar with the matter.

In commodities, gold was steady at around $2,934 per ounce. West Texas Intermediate edged higher, extending gains into a third straight session.

Key events this week:

• Eurozone industrial production, Thursday
• US PPI, initial jobless claims, Thursday
• US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

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Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 8:16 a.m. Tokyo time
• Hang Seng futures were little changed
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro was unchanged at $1.0888
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 148.13 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2385 per dollar
• The Australian dollar rose 0.1% to $0.6328

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.5% to $83,501.35
• Ether rose 0.7% to $1,904.29

Bonds

• Australia’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.45%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
• Spot gold was little changed

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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