MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8% led by a 3.5% decline on the Hang Seng tech index after China’s internet watchdog said it plans stricter registration rules for younger net users. [.HK]
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.6%. U.S. stock markets are at record highs but futures were listless amid creeping worries about central bankers’ responses to inflation. FTSE futures were flat and European futures fell 0.3%.
The latest evidence of worldwide pressure on consumer prices came from Australia, where data showed core inflation hit a six-year high last quarter.
Broader currency markets were quiet as traders look to central bank meetings over the next week or so for guidance, with Canada first up at 1400 GMT. The Canadian dollar hovered just below last week’s four month high. [FRX/]
The European Central Bank meets on Thursday, when Bank of Japan also concludes its two-day meeting. No changes are expected from Tokyo, but traders are expecting the ECB to push back on market inflation forecasts and are looking for hawkish clues from the Bank of Canada as prices put pressure on rates.
Earnings reports from Ford, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Boeing are due later in the day. Solid results have helped Wall Street to fresh records this week, though on Tuesday Facebook shares fell after the company warned of a hit from changes to Apple’s privacy rules.
· HSBC sees opportunity in beaten down Chinese stocks
HSBC’s Herald van der Linde sees opportunities to buy Chinese stocks “at reasonable valuations” now.
“We believe investors should be buying, actually, Chinese stocks,” van der Linde, head of equity strategy for Asia-Pacific at the bank, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Tuesday. HSBC is currently “overweight” on Chinese stocks, he said.
“Good stocks have been thrown out of, like they say, the baby’s been thrown away with the … bathwater,” the strategist said, adding that these shares are now trading at “very low multiples.”
· Europe stocks edge lower as investors monitor UK budget update, Deutsche Bank down 2.7%
The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 Index was lower by 0.1% in early deals, with mining stocks leading the losses with a fall of 1.2%.
European traders digested a busy morning of earnings, with Schneider Electric, Deutsche Bank, Heineken and Banco Santander just some of those reporting before the bell.
· Deutsche Bank reported a fall in revenues at its investment banking unit Wednesday, but still managed to beat expectations and post its fifth consecutive quarter of profit. The bank reported a net income of 194 million euros in the three months to September. Analysts had estimated a net income of 135 million euros for the third quarter, according to data from Refinitiv. Shares still sank 2.7% in morning trade on Wednesday.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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