China Tech Stocks Drive Asia Lower as Rally Pauses: Markets Wrap

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(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia snapped a three-day winning streak, mirroring a halt in Wall Street’s rally as investors’ risk appetite cooled ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech on Friday.

Chinese stocks in Hong Kong fell as much as 2%, leading equities in Asia lower, as technology names dragged. JD.com Inc. tumbled as much as 12% after a report on Walmart Inc.’s planned stake sale. Shares also declined in Japan and South Korea, shrugging off improving exports data, after the US benchmark ended an eight-day gain.

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“There was no real news to drive the cross-asset flows, so positioning and liquidity dynamics will likely get the blame,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd. “On net, the risk bulls will feel today’s moves have grazed but the wounds will not cut too deep given many have traded this move well and would be sitting on some good profits in equity indices.”

Aside from flows and positioning, the recent rally was also fueled by bets the Federal Reserve will signal it’s getting closer to cutting rates, leading bond traders to take on record amounts of risk as they anticipate a Treasury market rally. 

The dollar steadied after weakening for three sessions as markets await Wednesday’s US payrolls revisions, FOMC minutes and Powell’s speech for more clues on the amount and timing of the interest-rate reductions. Emerging Asian currencies such as the Thai baht and the Malaysian ringgit edged higher, while the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed. 

“It’s probably time for a breather after the furious risk rally of the past fortnight,” Alvin Tan, head of Asian currency strategy at Royal Bank of Canada in Singapore, said. “The turbulence at the beginning of the month is fading further in the rear view mirror. The US dollar has been under significant pressure since Monday. Part of this has to do with the global risk rally.” 

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In Asia, policymakers in Indonesia and Thailand are tipped to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as they weigh uncertainties over political transitions while awaiting the Fed’s imminent easing. Australian 10-year yields fell six basis points in morning trading. 

Japan’s equities declined as the yen’s advance raises worries about earnings. The local currency steadied at around 145 against the dollar after rallying Tuesday, as traders await the Bank of Japan governor to speak to parliament on Friday.

Chinese property stocks are in focus as the country considers a new funding option for local governments to sell bonds to buy unsold home, after a series of rescue packages failed to prop up the market. 

The S&P 500 fell below 5,600 Tuesday as Nvidia Corp. — which had rallied almost 25% in six days — led losses in megacaps. Treasury 10-year yields were little changed after declining six basis points. Brent crude declined a third day on the back of a potential cease-fire in Gaza and mounting concern about the global demand outlook, while gold hit a fresh record high.

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Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott says he continues to anticipate ongoing stock-market strength on a near-term basis, but remains on “high alert” for another, potentially bigger corrective wave moving through the August-October time frame. 

“So what happens when everything and everyone is teed up to be bullish,” Wantrobski said. “From a timing perspective, we are headed into a window where there may be high probability for a liquidity event to occur — and the charts, trader positioning, and sentiment are all very vulnerable right now in our view. We smell a ‘bull trap’ ahead. But hope we’re wrong.”

Key events this week:

• US Fed minutes, BLS preliminary annual payrolls revision, Wednesday
• Eurozone HCOB PMI, consumer confidence, Thursday
• ECB publishes account of July rate decision, Thursday
• US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, S&P Global PMI, Thursday
• Japan CPI, Friday
• Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda to attend special session at Japan’s parliament to discuss July 31 rate hike, Friday
• US new home sales, Friday
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming, Friday

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Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 10:45 a.m. Tokyo time
• Japan’s Topix fell 0.8%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.2%
• The Shanghai Composite fell 0.4%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed
• Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro was little changed at $1.1121
• The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 145.44 per dollar
• The offshore yuan fell 0.1% to 7.1248 per dollar
• The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6746

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $59,140.96
• Ether fell 0.4% to $2,578.49

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.81%
• Japan’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.870%
• Australia’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 3.89%

Commodities

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

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

—With assistance from Rita Nazareth.

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