Asian stocks dropped, after the regional benchmark index surged by the most in six years on Wednesday, as data on American job openings bolstered the case for higher U.S. interest rates.
Inpex Corp., Japan’s biggest energy explorer, slid 5.4 percent after crude oil futures declined. Murata Manufacturing Co. fell 3 percent in Tokyo, pacing losses among Apple Inc. suppliers after Apple unveiled new products. Mirae Asset Securities Co. plunged 18 percent in Seoul, heading for a record drop, following a report the South Korean brokerage is considering a bid for rival Daewoo Securities Co. as it prepares to sell 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) of new shares.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 1.6 percent to 127.37 as of 10:32 a.m. in Hong Kong after jumping 4.2 percent on Wednesday. Japan’s Topix index lost 2.1 percent as the yen halted three days of declines. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 1.4 percent on Wednesday as investors weighed the implications of the employment data for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
“Markets will remain volatile until the Fed meeting next week,” Nader Naeimi, Sydney-based head of dynamic asset allocation at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which oversees about $118 billion said by phone. “Investors are again focusing on the potential U.S. interest-rate increase and how it would impact emerging markets.”
U.S. Jobs
Job openings in the U.S. surged to a record in July, data released on Wednesday showed. Fed officials have to consider whether market turmoil that began last month will offset the labor-market improvement and interrupt plans to raise the benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2006. Futures traders saw a 28 percent chance that the Fed would increase rates in September, down from 32 percent a week earlier, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.5 percent, paring earlier losses of as much as 2 percent. The nation’s consumer prices rose 2 percent in August from a year earlier as a pork supply crunch drove up the cost of the staple. That’s the fastest pace in a year and compared with the 1.8 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland stocks traded in Hong Kong fell 2 percent, while the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped 2.2 percent.
Regional Gauges
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged 2.9 percent after surging by most since October 2008 on Wednesday. Taiwan’s Taiex index slid 0.3 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 1.6 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index decreased 2.2 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was little changed after the central bank cut interest rates and said the currency should fall further. South Korea’s Kospi Index retreated 0.1 percent.
E-mini futures on the S&P 500 lost less than 0.1 percent after the underlying equity gauge failed to add to the second-biggest surge of 2015. Apple, the largest-weighted stock in the S&P 500, slipped 1.9 percent.
Courtesy: Bloomberg Business 10 September 2015