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Asian equities sluggish after fresh Wall Street records

Published : Sunday, 8 August, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 367

HONG KONG, Aug 7: Asian markets struggled on Friday despite Wall Street benchmarks climbing overnight, with traders wary of possible volatility trailing the release of upcoming US economic data.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at fresh records Thursday after another fall in applications for unemployment benefits, while trade balance figures contained hints of an end to supply chain snarls that have driven up prices.
But gains on other bourses were limited, with traders awaiting US payroll data on Friday for an indication of when Washington will begin to taper coronavirus support measures and put the brakes on inflation, portending a volatile session when New York re-opens.
"The first headless chicken move by markets in the 30 minutes after the numbers is, more often than not, the wrong one," said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley.
"Thankfully, Asia will have the entire weekend to pick the bones from the smoking ruins of the New York session and make more level-headed assessments," he added.
Broader sentiment has also been dampened by the global spread of the Delta coronavirus variant, said Tapas Strickland of National Australia Bank.
"Delta concerns remain, though markets continue to view it more in the window of delay rather than derail given the high efficacy of vaccines," he added.
"Nevertheless, a number of US companies have pushed back the date when they expect most workers to return to offices given the spread of delta."
Hong Kong finished down 0.1 percent on weakness in banking shares, though Tencent was up nearly four percent to pare the week's losses after signs of a regulatory crackdown on the online gaming industry by Beijing.    -AFP











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