Global Markets Roundup: 23 April 2024

APAC markets saw further gains on Tuesday, buoyed by positive sentiment from Wall Street as investors turned their attention towards impending earnings reports from major U.S. technology companies. Concurrently, the Japanese yen remained vulnerable, touching fresh 34-year lows, spurred by the sustained strength of the dollar.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) edged up by 0.5%, supported notably by a 1% surge in Taiwanese shares represented by the TAIEX and a 0.8% advancement in Hong Kong's Hang Seng index. This upturn follows a 1% increase in the Asian index the preceding day, driven by alleviated concerns regarding a significant escalation in Middle East tensions, which saw a partial recovery from the 3.7% losses recorded the week prior.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei NI225 saw a modest uptick of 0.1%. Tech sector stocks in the region experienced notable gains, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 2330 witnessing a rally of 1.5%, while the MSCI Asia-Pacific ex-Japan IT index (.MIAPJIT00NUS) surged by 0.8%. In contrast, Chinese shares experienced a decline, with blue chips represented by 3399300 facing a 0.6% decrease. On Wall Street, significant tech shares exhibited strength in anticipation of their quarterly results scheduled for the week ahead, propelling the Nasdaq IXIC by 1.1%. Notably, AI leader Nvidia NVDA saw a gain of 4.4%, followed by Amazon AMZN with a rise of 1.5% and Alphabet GOOG with a jump of 1.4%. However, Tesla TSLA witnessed a decline of 3.4% following price cuts in major markets.

Key players such as Tesla, Meta Platforms, Alphabet, and Microsoft are set to announce their earnings results this week. However, UBS downgraded its rating on mega-cap companies, expressing caution about potential profit growth momentum decline among the Big Six technology stocks in the coming quarters. Aside from corporate earnings, market focus also centers on the release later this week of U.S. gross domestic product figures and March personal consumption expenditure data, pivotal indicators influencing monetary policy decisions by the Federal Reserve. Expectations regarding Fed rate cuts have shifted, with traders anticipating the first cut in September and a total easing of 40 basis points for the year, significantly lower than initial expectations of around 150 basis points at the beginning of the year.

In currencies, the contrasting interest rate outlooks between the U.S. and Europe have impacted the EURUSD, which hovered near a five-month low of $1.0659, after hitting $1.0601 last week. Meanwhile, the yen continued its decline, reaching fresh 34-year lows against the dollar. The dollar DXY was last trading around 106.10. GBPUSD was last trading at $1.23535. The AUDUSD rose to a one-week high of $0.6465.

In commodities, Oil prices saw a partial recovery following overnight losses as investors assessed developments in the Middle East. Brent BRN1! futures rose by 0.2% to $87.16 a barrel, while U.S. crude CL1! gained 0.2% to $82.06 a barrel. In precious metals however, gold prices experienced a decline, losing 1% to $2,295.9 per ounce, after a previous slump of 2.7%. In base metals Three-month copper on the LME HG1! fell 0.8% to $9,749 per metric ton. In agricultural comodities, The CBOT ZW1! added 1% to $5.93-1/2 a bushel. Corn ZC1! gained 0.4% at $4.51-1/2 a bushel and soybeans ZS1! climbed 0.6% to $11.83-1/4 a bushel.

Looking ahead, German Manufacturing PMI Flash, EU HCOB Manufacturing PMI Flash, UK S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash, US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash, API Crude Oil Stock Change.

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General news - Information source from multiple newswires.

The article and the data is for general information use only, not advice!

The Trade Academy Team

Rating: Mixed Outlook

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