Chinese and Hong Kong stocks open flat
Chinese and Hong Kong stocks were little changed Tuesday, as investors assessed the latest developments in U.S.-China trade relations.
As of 9:45 a.m. local time (9:45 p.m. ET Monday), the Hang Seng Index moved down 0.1%, while mainland’s CSI 300 was flat.
— Amala Balakrishner
SoftBank Group shares surge 8%
Shares of SoftBank Group surged as much as 8.01% Tuesday, extending its gains for the fifth consecutive session.
The Japanese investment firm was also among the best performing stocks on the blue-chip Nikkei 225 benchmark which hit a fresh high earlier in the session.
SoftBank Group
The gains come as the Japanese firm has selected investment banks to support a potential listing of its portfolio company —Japanese payments app operator PayPay — in the U.S., Reuters reported Monday citing two people familiar with the matter.
— Amala Balakrishner
Australian stocks extend gains to fresh record high
Australian stocks extended their gains for a second day, reaching a new record high.
The 200-stock benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.14% to 8,856.80 as of 10.48 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time (8:48 p.m. ET Monday), after hitting a fresh high of 8,828.67 earlier in the session.
S&P/ASX
The benchmark’s strong moves come as trade negotiations between the U.S. and China show signs of progress.
China is the top export destination for Australian goods, and investors are hoping that improving trade relations between the world’s two largest economies would spur economic activity down under.
— Amala Balakrishner
Japan’s Nikkei 225 hits record high
Japan’s blue-chip Nikkei 225 index hit an all-time high of 42,629.17 on Tuesday, led by energy, technology, financials and utilities sectors.
Nikkei 225
Asia-Pacific markets open higher
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Tuesday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark rose 1.26%, while the broader Topix index added 0.74%, as of 8:07 a.m. Singapore time (8:07 p.m. ET Monday).
In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.66%, while the small-cap Kosdaq increased by 0.4%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was flat.
— Amala Balakrishner
U.S. futures mostly move up in early Asia hours
Here are the opening calls for the day
Good morning from Singapore.
The U.S.-China trade truce extension overnight has allowed the world’s largest economies more room to negotiate a deal.
Investors, meanwhile, await the Australian central bank’s rate decision. The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to slash cash rates to 3.6% from 3.85% at the close of its two-day policy meeting later in the day.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was set to start the day lower with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,783, compared with the index’s Monday close of 8,844.80.
Japan Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 42,295 while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 42,270, against the index’s last close of 41,820.48.
Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 24,765, pointing to a weaker open compared with the HSI’s last close of 24,906.81.
— Amala Balakrishner
A September rate cut from the Fed would be a risky move, BofA says
Bank of America thinks the Federal Reserve may want to hold off on cutting interest rates at the end of its next FOMC meeting in the wake of the latest jobs report.
“We think those FOMC members that argue for cuts don’t put enough weight on the labor supply shock or the fact that inflation is stuck above target, with risks of a larger and more persistent shock after the latest tariff hikes,” economist Claudio Irigoyen wrote on Monday. “Cutting in September may risk starting the easing cycle without evidence that inflation has peaked.”
He also said that he still doesn’t expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year.
“The downward revision to nonfarm payrolls increases the probability of what we view as the most likely alternate scenario: ‘bad cuts,’ due to deterioration in the labor market,” Irigoyen wrote. “We view the combination of policies to be mildly stagflationary, with significant uncertainty regarding the size and timing of the impact on inflation and growth.”
— Sean Conlon
Stocks fall across the board
Stocks fell across the board to end Monday’s session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 200.52 points, or 0.45%, and closed at 43,975.09. The S&P 500 slipped 0.25% to end at 6,373.45, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.3% to settle at 21,385.40.
— Lisa Kailai Han
