Join +750K new investors every month who copy stock picks from billionaire's portfoliosSign Up Free

GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks step back on tepid Wall Street, oil elevated

Published 2018-05-14, 08:32 p/m
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks step back on tepid Wall Street, oil elevated
EUR/USD
-
USD/JPY
-
AXJO
-
JP225
-
DX
-
LCO
-
CL
-
0763
-
US10YT=X
-
KS11
-
MIAPJ0000PUS
-
DXY
-

* MSCI Asia-Pacific index down 0.16 pct, Nikkei flat

* Brent crude hovers just below 3-1/2-yr highs

* Dollar mildly supported after bouncing on Fed Mester's comments

By Shinichi Saoshiro

TOKYO, May 15 (Reuters) - Asia stocks pulled back on Tuesday, after an uninspiring performance on Wall Street eclipsed support from U.S.-China trade optimism, while supply concerns kept crude oil prices near 3-1/2-year highs.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dipped 0.16 percent after rising 0.6 percent the previous day to its highest since late March.

Australian stocks .AXJO inched up 0.05 percent, South Korea's KOSPI .KS11 shed 0.05 percent and Japan's Nikkei .N225 was flat.

Wall Street scraped out gains on Monday after weakness in defensive stocks offset optimism following U.S. President Donald Trump's conciliatory remarks toward China's ZTE Corp (HK:0763) that helped calm U.S.-China trade tensions. .N

Investors in Chinese equities will likely rejig their exposure after MSCI, the U.S. index publisher, published its latest index weighting.

MSCI said on Tuesday that 234 Chinese large caps will be partially included in its global and regional indexes on June 1, following an index review ahead of China's inclusion in MSCI's widely tracked equity benchmarks. crude LCOc1 added 0.2 percent to $78.38 a barrel and in close reach of $78.53, the 3-1/2-year high marked on Monday. U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 advanced 0.15 percent to $71.07 a barrel and in reach of $71.89, the highest since November 2014 scaled on Thursday.

Oil prices received their latest lift as OPEC reported that the global oil glut has been virtually eliminated. Tensions in the Middle East and uncertainty about output from Iran amid renewed U.S. sanctions have contributed to the recent rise in oil prices. O/R

"The recent rise in prices of crude oil won't have a broadly negative impact on equity markets if it continues at the current pace," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo.

"The rise in oil prices is boding well for certain stock sectors like energy shares."

In currencies, the dollar index against a basket of six major currencies nudged up 0.1 percent to 92.661 .DXY .

The greenback took a knock against the euro earlier on Monday after European Central Bank policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the ECB could give fresh timing guidance of its first rate hike as the end of its exceptional bond purchases approaches. U.S. currency managed to bounce back, however, after Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester reiterated support for gradual interest rate increases. euro stood little changed at $1.1930 EUR= after pulling back sharply from the previous day's high of $1.1996.

The dollar was a shade higher at 109.755 yen JPY= , adding to the previous day's gains.

The currency drew support as U.S. Treasury yields rose amid the easing of U.S.-China trade tensions. US/

The 10-year Treasury note yield was at 2.998 percent US10YT=RR after rising about 2.5 basis points overnight.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.