(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks fell, led by a selloff in Hong Kong tech stocks, on concerns about tighter regulation of the gaming industry and concerns that government stimulus measures are not enough.
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The Hang Seng High-Tech Index fell as much as 3.3% and is on track to close at its lowest level since November 2022. Benchmark stock indexes also reversed gains in South Korea and Australia. Japan’s financial markets are closed due to the holiday.
China’s gaming regulator surprised investors earlier this month with a raft of new regulations that triggered a broad tech stock selloff. Major Tencent Holdings fell as much as 2.4% in Hong Kong, even though JPMorgan Chase & Co. said its current valuation was attractive.
Forsyth Barr Asia analyst Willer Chen said capital outflows from Hong Kong continue and investors remain cautious as they await final regulations after the Chinese government releases draft gambling regulation rules. He said the sector remains vulnerable due to strong sentiment.
U.S. stock futures were little changed after the S&P 500 closed marginally higher on Friday on reports that job growth beat expectations but slowed in the services sector. The dollar rose against most of the Group of Ten (G10) countries on Monday, but 10-year U.S. Treasury futures were marginally lower. Due to the holiday in Japan, there was no trading of physical government bonds in Asia.
Investors will be keeping an eye on inflation data released by China this week, which could provide better guidance on the outlook for central bank policy. Mark Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global, said although China’s disinflation reports are expected to decline, “the economy needs further support and the benchmark one-year medium “It seems increasingly likely that the lending system will be lowered.”
U.S. stocks rose on Friday, but global stocks continued their biggest decline since October last week as markets were roiled by a rush for corporate bonds and the Federal Reserve showed it was in no hurry to cut interest rates.
Last week’s U.S. jobs report initially dampened bets that the Fed would cut rates faster and deeper, but swap traders ultimately restated their bets on about 140 basis points of easing this year, with the probability of a March rate cut at about It became two-thirds. Some on Wall Street remained confident in the central bank’s ability to cool the economy while avoiding a downturn.
U.S. inflation data on Thursday showed the underlying indicator is expected to ease further in December to 3.8% from a year earlier, from 4% a month earlier, according to a Bloomberg survey.
Elsewhere, Wall Street opens eyes on Boeing shares as global grounding of 737 Max 9 jets accelerates after the fuselage of Alaska Airlines’ new jet exploded in flight will gather.
In primary goods, oil prices fell as Saudi Arabia cut official selling prices across the region, confirming the deteriorating outlook, outweighing concerns about tensions in the Red Sea and supply disruptions in Libya.
This week’s main events:
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Eurozone Economic Confidence, Retail Sales, Consumer Confidence, Monday
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Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic speaks on Monday
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US House of Representatives returns from recess on Monday
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Australian retail sales Tuesday
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Japan Tokyo CPI, Household Expenditure, Tuesday
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Eurozone unemployment rate, Tuesday
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World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report released on Wednesday
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US wholesale inventory Wednesday
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Wednesday deadline for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to vote on Bitcoin ETF application
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New York Fed President John Williams speaks on Wednesday
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US CPI, new unemployment claims, Thursday
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China CPI, PPI, Trade, Friday
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French consumer price index, Friday
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UK industrial production, Friday
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US PPI, Friday
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On Friday, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, BlackRock, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo reported fourth-quarter results.
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Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari speaks on Friday
stock
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S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 11:44 a.m. Tokyo time. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% on Friday.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed.Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
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Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.8%.
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China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9%.
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Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index falls 0.3%
currency
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Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index little changed
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The euro was almost unchanged at $1.0940.
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The Japanese yen remained almost unchanged at 144.49 yen to the dollar.
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The offshore yuan was almost unchanged at 7.1622 yuan to the dollar.
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The Australian dollar was almost unchanged at US$0.6716.
cryptocurrency
bond
merchandise
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West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.9% to $73.15 a barrel.
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Spot gold fell 0.1% to $2,043.03 an ounce.
This article was produced in partnership with Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Matthew Burgess, Jenny Yu, and Zhu Lin.
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