TOKYO / WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Asian stocks jumped between gains and losses on Thursday, with a sale of Chinese technology stocks due to concerns that they would be pulled off US stock exchanges and concerns about a semiconductor shortage shocked some investors.
The broader MSCI index for Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan fell 0.07%. The index is close to eliminating all the gains it has so far made this year.
Hong Kong shares .HSI it fell sharply at the opening, but later erased losses to trade with a 0.16% rise. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Xiaomi Corp and Tencent Holdings Ltd were trading low. China’s shares were up 0.28%.
Elsewhere, Japanese stocks were up 1.33% and Australian stocks were up 0.17%, with bargain hunters buying shares in consumer goods, real estate and financial companies.
US stock futures were up 0.28%. Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.21%, Germany’s DAX futures fell 0.1% and FTSE futures fell 0.07%.
The U.S. securities regulator is introducing measures that would expel foreign companies from US stock exchanges if they do not meet US audit standards, and requires them to disclose any government affiliations – measures that are expected to affect Chinese companies.
In addition, concerns about prolonged economic blockages in Europe, interruptions in the distribution of coronavirus vaccines and potential tax increases in the US also weighed on investor sentiment.
“The increase in interest rates, the uncertainty of tax policy and the concern with inflation remain the main concerns of investors. However, none of these topics talk about increasing risk appetite, ”said Peter Kenny, of Kenny’s Commentary LLC and Strategic Board Solutions LLC, in Denver.
“We are seeing the big gains of last year being below the performance of the market in general.”
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.01%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.01%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.55%, as optimistic comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen failed to facilitate profit making in the technology sector.
The stock indicator for MSCI worldwide rose 0.06%.
U.S. crude fell 1.81% to $ 60.07 a barrel, and Brent fell 1.46% to $ 63.45 a barrel, returning some of the previous day’s gains after one of the largest container ships in the world. world ran aground on the Suez Canal, blocking a vital navigation route.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields rose to 1.6209%, supported by positive data on the US industrial sector.
Investors focused on the 10-year Treasury yield, pondering whether there is room for long-term interest rates, said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
“We know that the economy is set to start accelerating really in the second quarter,” said Kelly. “But we haven’t seen that acceleration yet, so that’s what we’re hoping for.”
The dollar hit a new record high of $ 1.1804 per euro in four months on Thursday, with the extension of blockages and concerns about the pace of vaccinations across Europe hurting the single currency.
Even Germany’s reversal of a strict blockade request over the Easter period has not been able to help the euro.
Stanley White and Katanga Johnson reporting; Editing by Richard Pullin and Christopher Cushing