(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks rose Friday as Chinese technology shares rebounded and Japan resumed a rally, bringing some relief from a bout of weakness in global equities this week. Treasuries held gains.
Shares climbed more than 1% in Japan and Hong Kong. U.S. contracts edged up after the S&P 500 overnight posted its longest losing streak since June amid concerns about slower economic reopening due to the delta virus strain. Traders also weighed the implications of a telephone call between President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping.
Chinese technology stocks rebounded in the wake of a clarification by a newspaper that China has slowed rather than frozen new game approvals, the latest twist in Beijing’s regulatory crackdown. China Evergrande Group was bolstered by a decision to let it renegotiate payment deadlines with creditors.
Treasuries held an advance, helped by strong demand at a 30-year bond auction. The dollar was steady. In commodities, oil stabilized from an earlier swoon on China’s move to tap crude reserves to ease a surge in energy costs. A broad rally in base metals markets took aluminum to a 13-year high.
Global stocks remain in sight of record levels despite a wobble this week against a backdrop of elevated inflation and slower economic reopening. The European Central Bank said it will slow the pace of its pandemic bond-buying in the final quarter of 2021, but President Christine Lagarde added that didn’t herald a winding down in stimulus with the delta strain still posing risks.
Read More: BofA’s Subramanian Likens S&P 500 to 36-Year, Zero-Coupon Bond
“We don’t see the start of a down cycle, we do see a slight pause before markets continue to move up again,” Ray Sharma-Ong, investment director with Aberdeen Standard Invest Asia Ltd., said on Bloomberg Television. “In our view going into the fourth quarter there’s a much more optimistic view.”
The latest reports showed lower U.S. jobless claims but also more virus disruption, including Microsoft Corp.’s move to scrap plans to fully reopen its offices. The Biden administration took steps toward requiring large firms to mandate vaccinations or testing, stepping up its fight against the delta variant.
What to watch this week:
U.S. President Joe Biden may make his choice this week on whether to renominate Fed Chair Jerome Powell to a second term
For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 11:17 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%Japan’s Topix index climbed 1.1%Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index increased 0.2%South Korea’s Kospi added 0.4%Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.4%China’s Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.6%
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changedThe euro was at $1.1824The offshore yuan was at…
Read More: Asia Stocks Up on Japan, China Tech; Dollar Steady: Markets Wrap