Asian shares slumped Friday following a sharp decline on Wall Street amid concern that pockets of trouble in the US banking sector could portend broader dangers.
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(Bloomberg) — Asian shares slumped Friday following a sharp decline on Wall Street amid concern that pockets of trouble in the US banking sector could portend broader dangers.
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An Asian equity gauge slid more than 1%, dragged down by finance stocks after banks came under fire in the US following the collapse of Silvergate Capital Corp. MSCI China Index also fell and erased all of its gains for this year.
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Silicon Valley-based lender SVB Financial Group was at the center of the storm Thursday, losing 60% after taking steps to shore up its capital position, stoking concern that soaring interest rates are eroding balance sheets.
Read more: Read more: Wall Street’s Favorite Trade Is Hammered in Bank Stock Meltdown
The yen rebounded after slipping during early trading on Friday. The currency gained the most in a month on Thursday on the back of the deteriorating risk sentiment and in the lead up to Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s final policy announcement.
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The central bank is leaning toward monitoring the impact of recent tweaks to its stimulus program rather than making another adjustment, according to people familiar with the matter.
“We expect continued policy normalization and it is likely to come under the new Governor Ueda. The exact timing of the policy change will be difficult to predict and could be as early as the second quarter,” said Jennifer Kwan, senior investment specialist for global fixed income, currency and commodities at JPMorgan Asset Management. “We are staying underweight in Japanese bonds, in view of the potential higher yields in JGBs later this year.”
Treasury yields extended their declines after the rout in stocks spurred demand for haven assets. Australian and New Zealand government bonds rallied.
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US stocks had gained early in the session Thursday after data showed weekly jobless claims had risen to 211,000 during the week ending March 4, ahead of expectations for 195,000 and marking the first time claims surpassed 200,000 since early January.
The numbers set the stage for Friday’s monthly jobs report, with even just slightly stronger-than-forecast figures expected to cement bets for a bigger hike at the March 21-22 Fed meeting. Economists project a 225,000 increase in February payrolls, about half January’s blockbuster pace, but a figure in that range would confirm the US economy continues to add jobs at a strong rate.
A softer-than expected number could soften wagers on a half-point move in March, and tilt expectations back to a quarter-point hike.
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Cryptocurrencies dropped after pulling up slightly early on Friday. Bitcoin on Thursday fell 8.1%, the most since November, amid Silvergate’s meltdown.
In commodities, oil headed for the biggest weekly loss since early February as the prospects of higher interest rates weighed on energy demand outlook.
Key events this week:
- Bank of Japan policy rate decision, Friday
- US nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate, monthly budget statement, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures fell 0.4% as of 10:32 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 fell 1.8%
- Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.8%
- Japan’s Topix index fell 1.1%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.9%
- China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.8%
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Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0594
- The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 135.96 per dollar
- The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.9751 per dollar
- The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6585
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin fell 0.9% to $20,043.5
- Ether fell 0.4% to $1,426.55
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 3.87%
- Japan’s 10-year yield fell half a basis point to 0.495%
- Australia’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 3.63%
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 Isabelle Lee, Peyton Forte and Vildana Hajric.
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