Asian stocks had a cautious open as investors awaited a slew of corporate earnings and economic data this week that will give an early indication of the impacts from President Donald Trump’s tariff war.
Australia’s benchmark stock gauge rose 0.4%, while equity-index futures for Hong Kong and China showed marginal moves. Contracts for the S&P 500 swung between small gains and losses after a late wave of buying wiped out losses in US stocks. The dollar steadied after falling Monday. There’s no trading of cash Treasuries in Asia as Tokyo is closed for a public holiday, and they will open at the start of the European session.
The five-day rally in US stocks, the longest advance since November, faces a significant test this week amid US data from jobs to inflation and economic growth, as well as earnings from some of the biggest technology companies. Some calmness has returned to financial markets in the past week after the Trump administration’s trade policies sparked volatile trading in stocks and bonds and prompted traders to sell American assets, including the dollar.
“Underneath the surface, key risks persist — trade tensions, recession worries, and monetary policy uncertainties are very much alive,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com.
For equities to keep rallying, investors would need to see the White House follow through on the “dovish pivot” toward trade with China, according to Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
Such a pivot looks unlikely. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the US has put China to the side for now as it seeks trade deals with between 15 to 17 other countries, while indicating it’s up to Beijing to take the first step in de-escalating the tariff fight.
That means there doesn’t seem any quick fix to the wall of levies erected between the two biggest economies, which will have implications for global trade and markets in the months to come. On Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry again denied the nations were discussing winding back tariffs.
On Monday, Boeing Co. and International Business Machines Corp. led gains in blue chips, while Nvidia Corp. sank on news Huawei Technologies Co. is set to test a new chip. Its megacap peers Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. will report results in coming days.
A widely followed measure of Texas manufacturing activity weakened significantly as executives used words like “chaos” and “insanity” to describe the tariff turmoil, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
“This will be one of the busiest weeks of the year,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise. “Ongoing trade headlines, an economic calendar filled with key releases and the peak week of the earnings season, including several Magnificent Seven companies reporting results, should keep investors’ heads spinning.”
The dollar dropped on Monday as investors sold US assets under Trump’s policies — a trend that JPMorgan Chase & Co. expects to continue. The US president’s trade war and harsh rhetoric against China have pushed investors to start piling into assets outside of the US.
Speculative traders, including hedge funds and asset managers, increased their bets against the dollar in the week through April 22.
Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson says the weak dollar will support US corporate earnings, helping the American stock market to outperform the rest of the world. Yet Wilson expects the S&P 500 to remain in the 5,000 to 5,500 range. A more substantial increase would require a tariff deal with China, clear rebound in earnings estimates and the possibility of easier monetary policy, he wrote.
The Canadian dollar edged lower Tuesday as investors await results of the nation’s election.
In commodities, crude oil opened little changed Tuesday.
Australia’s benchmark stock gauge rose 0.4%, while equity-index futures for Hong Kong and China showed marginal moves. Contracts for the S&P 500 swung between small gains and losses after a late wave of buying wiped out losses in US stocks. The dollar steadied after falling Monday. There’s no trading of cash Treasuries in Asia as Tokyo is closed for a public holiday, and they will open at the start of the European session.
The five-day rally in US stocks, the longest advance since November, faces a significant test this week amid US data from jobs to inflation and economic growth, as well as earnings from some of the biggest technology companies. Some calmness has returned to financial markets in the past week after the Trump administration’s trade policies sparked volatile trading in stocks and bonds and prompted traders to sell American assets, including the dollar.
“Underneath the surface, key risks persist — trade tensions, recession worries, and monetary policy uncertainties are very much alive,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com.
For equities to keep rallying, investors would need to see the White House follow through on the “dovish pivot” toward trade with China, according to Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
Such a pivot looks unlikely. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the US has put China to the side for now as it seeks trade deals with between 15 to 17 other countries, while indicating it’s up to Beijing to take the first step in de-escalating the tariff fight.
That means there doesn’t seem any quick fix to the wall of levies erected between the two biggest economies, which will have implications for global trade and markets in the months to come. On Monday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry again denied the nations were discussing winding back tariffs.
On Monday, Boeing Co. and International Business Machines Corp. led gains in blue chips, while Nvidia Corp. sank on news Huawei Technologies Co. is set to test a new chip. Its megacap peers Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. will report results in coming days.
A widely followed measure of Texas manufacturing activity weakened significantly as executives used words like “chaos” and “insanity” to describe the tariff turmoil, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
“This will be one of the busiest weeks of the year,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise. “Ongoing trade headlines, an economic calendar filled with key releases and the peak week of the earnings season, including several Magnificent Seven companies reporting results, should keep investors’ heads spinning.”
The dollar dropped on Monday as investors sold US assets under Trump’s policies — a trend that JPMorgan Chase & Co. expects to continue. The US president’s trade war and harsh rhetoric against China have pushed investors to start piling into assets outside of the US.
Speculative traders, including hedge funds and asset managers, increased their bets against the dollar in the week through April 22.
Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson says the weak dollar will support US corporate earnings, helping the American stock market to outperform the rest of the world. Yet Wilson expects the S&P 500 to remain in the 5,000 to 5,500 range. A more substantial increase would require a tariff deal with China, clear rebound in earnings estimates and the possibility of easier monetary policy, he wrote.
The Canadian dollar edged lower Tuesday as investors await results of the nation’s election.
In commodities, crude oil opened little changed Tuesday.
You may also like
Indian Army effectively retaliates to "unprovoked" small firing by Pakistan
"Is he scared of ED, CBI?" Udit Raj hits out at Sashi Tharoor over Pahalgam remark
Israel's Shin Bet chief announces resignation, will step down on June 15
World-first clinical trial launched for fridge-free vaccine that could revolutionise healthcare
Acquisition of the private paper collection of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
