Hong Kong, Oct. 6 (BNA): Asian stocks fell on Wednesday, reversing early gains, after an overnight rebound in US and European stocks as investors shrugged off concerns about a possible US government debt default, while oil paused near several new years. heights.
The gains in oil come driven by concerns about energy supplies, and come two days after the OPEC+ group of producers stuck to a planned production increase rather than increasing it further.
US crude rose to its highest level since 2014 on Wednesday but pared its gains and fell 0.09% to $78.87 a barrel. Brent crude lost 0.08 percent to $82.49 a barrel, after hitting a three-year high in the previous session.
“OPEC forecasts point to further reductions in global oil inventories. This is a problem given that oil inventories are already low,” CBA analysts wrote in a note.
They added that higher prices could threaten the global economic recovery as global oil demand growth picks up as economies reopen on the back of high vaccination rates.
In stock markets, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.6%, reversing early gains, while Japan’s Nikkei index lost 0.78%.
Traders say markets are nervous due to concerns about the property market in China as well as the approaching high interest rates worldwide.
There were declines in Hong Kong of 1%, Korea of 0.9%, and Australia of 0.45%.
US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis index, fell 0.44%.
Chinese markets remained closed for a public holiday, and shares of cash-strapped Chinese developer Evergrande were suspended after it halted trading on Monday pending the announcement of a big deal.
Uncertainty over the fate of the Evergrande caused turmoil in Chinese property developer bonds and Hong Kong-listed stocks and bonds on Tuesday after a new credit rating downgrade.
Elsewhere, New Zealand’s central bank raised rates by 25 basis points but the reaction was muted as a move to increase the rate to 0.50% was widely expected.
The announcement caused the New Zealand dollar to rise by about 0.1%, before declining by 0.34%.
Overnight the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.92%, the S&P 500 rose 1.05% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.25%, despite fears that the United States would default on its debt.
A key lawmaker said Tuesday that the Senate will vote Wednesday on a Democratic-backed measure to suspend the US debt ceiling, as partisan brinkmanship in Congress risks defaulting on economically crippled federal credit.
However, these concerns helped push the dollar to its highest levels in 12 months and the record Treasury yields to approach their highest level since mid-June.
In Asian trading, the dollar hovered near its highest levels for the year against a basket of its peers, while the euro remained near the 14-month low hit last week.
JPY = EBS is down about 0.5%, reflecting the positive mood in the stock markets.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose to 1.5466%, close to a four-month high of 1.5670% hit in late September.
Spot gold was down 0.15% at $1,757.3 an ounce, with non-interest bearing assets hurt by higher yields.
HF