KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — Asian equities rose with US index futures, while Malaysia’s ringgit trimmed its biggest three-month loss since 1997, as investors took stock after a quarter of volatile trading that wiped almost US$11 trillion (RM48.931 trillion) off the value of global shares.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index pared set for a fifth straight monthly decline, the longest streak since the 2008 global financial crisis. US index futures climbed. Australia’s dollar advanced with the ringgit, as the Bloomberg JP Morgan Asia Dollar Index heads for its biggest quarterly drop in almost 17 years. Gold and Treasuries slipped.
“The stabilization in risk sentiment looks relatively tentative to us,” Raiko Shareef, a markets strategist in Wellington at Bank of New Zealand Ltd., said in an e-mail to clients.
“We’d be wary of another deterioration in Asia today as funding costs spike in China ahead of a week-long holiday.”
The latest episode of equity selling was spurred by concern that mining and trading companies are being threatened by higher borrowing costs amid a prolonged bear market for commodities.
That came amid the collapse in mainland China’s equity bubble, selloffs in US technology and biotechnology firms and an exodus from emerging-market assets as the world prepares for the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate increase since 2006.
Chinese markets close for a five-day holiday from tomorrow, with the US payrolls report due later this week.
Stocks
MSCI’s Asia Pacific gauge rallied 1.1 per cent by 11:17 a.m. in Tokyo, taking its loss since the end of June to 16 per cent, the most since at least the third quarter of 2011.
The last time the measure fell for five straight months was in the period to the end of November 2008, which included the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. MSCI’s All-Country World Index is down 11 per cent since June 30, its steepest slump since 2011.
The Shanghai Composite Index’s 29 per cent drop since June 30 is the worst performance of any major index globally this quarter.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index has the second-biggest drop.
Investors have fled Chinese equities amid concern that valuations were still too rich and after the shock devaluation of the yuan on Aug. 11 added to uncertainty around the strength of the world’s No. 2 economy.
Japan’s Topix index jumped 2 per cent Tuesday from its lowest close since January. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6 per cent Wednesday, trimming its quarterly slump to 9.4 per cent.
The Kospi index played catch up, losing 0.5 per cent in Seoul as markets in South Korea traded for the first time this week. Taiwan is also back Wednesday after being shut due to a typhoon.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.4 per cent, rising with contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The US benchmark reversed a drop of as much as 0.5 per cent to end Tuesday up 0.1 per cent amid a rebound in the last 30 minutes.
Selling in biotech and technology stocks continued in the US, sending the Russell 2000 Index to its longest slump since 2006 and briefly pushing the Nasdaq Composite below its August close.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a gauge of expected US equity swings known as the VIX, pulled back Tuesday, falling 2.9 per cent after a three-day surge. The measure is still above the 26 level, compared with its average of 16.4 over the past 12 months.
A similar gauge for Japan—the Nikkei Stock Average Volatility Index—dropped about 5 per cent, reducing its climb in the quarter to 50 per cent, the most since the last quarter of 2014.
Currencies
With risk trades back in play for the last day of the quarter, the Aussie pared its worst quarter since the second three months of 2013, rising 0.3 per cent as New Zealand’s dollar climbed 0.4 per cent. Both currencies have lost more than 5 per cent since the end of June.
The yen was little changed at 119.81 per dollar after rising 0.7 per cent the past two days. Japan’s currency is best performer among major peers the past three months.
With Fed officials touting the prospect of a rate increase before the end of 2015, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 2.8 per cent this quarter.
The gauge, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, was little changed Wednesday after falling 0.1 per cent last session.
The Asia Dollar Index, which tracks the region’s 10 most- active currencies outside of Japan, has dropped 4.4 per cent this quarter, in its worst performance since 1997. Malaysia’s ringgit led the rout with a 15 per cent slide as oil prices retreated and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was caught up in a corruption investigation.
The ringgit halted a seven-day slump, rising 0.1 per cent.
Gold for immediate delivery slipped 0.3 per cent to US$1,124.48, its fourth straight drop. The metal is set for a fifth quarterly decline, which would be its worst run since 1997. — Bloomberg
You May Also Like