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Tokyo - A rebound in Asian stocksfaded, pushing a gauge of global equities back to the brink of a bear market. Oil fell and the yen strengthened.
Japanese shares reversed early gains, as did Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futuresafter the measure halved its losses at the end of Wednesday trading. Stocksin Shanghai fell despite a drop in money-market rates as the People’s Bank of China injected the most cash via open-market operations since 2013. The yen approached a one-year high reached Wednesday. Copper and nickel pared advances.
Volatility has coursed through financial markets in 2016, amid turmoil in Chinesemarkets and the almost uninterrupted selloff in crude oil. The S&P 500’s plunge Wednesday triggered a technical signal indicating US stocks were oversold, spurring a paring of losses that prevented the MSCI All-Country World Index from entering a bear market.
The European Central Bank (ECB) meets on Thursday, the first major monetary authority to review interest rates and policy since turmoil gripped markets at the start of the year.
“The ground right now is so unstable, and there’s so much anxiety,” said Ayako Sera, a Tokyo-based market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, which has $453bn under management. “We saw a rally, but I wouldn’t say that we’re in a full rebound yet. People are just bottom-fishing.”
Stocks
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.6% as of 08:20, after rallying as much as 1% from its lowest level since September 2012. MSCI’s gauge of global equities fell 19.5% below its May record. Japan’s Topix index reversed a gain of 1.6% to tumble 2.8% down.
Sharp surged as much as 25% amid takeover speculation. Foxconn Technology Group has offered about ¥600bn to buy the Japanese company, according to a person familiar with the talks.
Futures on the S&P 500 slid 0.5%, giving up an early gain of as much as 1.1%.
“A sensible strategy is to buy through these periods of volatility in a number of stages since you can’t pick the absolute bottom.” said Martin Lakos, a Sydney-based strategist at Macquarie Private Wealth, “There’s some very good value in the market particularly if you’re looking at earnings momentum. Ultimately sense will prevail and investors will focus on fundamentals. We’re not seeing the economies in China, US or Europe falling off the cliff.”
China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.7% as the central bank’s biggest cash injection in the financial system in three years failed to ease concern that the economic slowdown will deepen. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 1.6% and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, a gauge of mainland Chinese shares listed in the city, dropped 2.3%.
Currencies
The yen reversed earlier declines after policy makers quelled speculation the Bank of Japan is preparing to boost currency-weakening stimulus as soon as next week. Japan’s currency climbed 0.3% to ¥116.65/$ after touching ¥115.98/$ on Wednesday, the strongest since January 16, 2015.
Japan’s currency rallied after Masahiko Shibayama, an aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said it was “too early” to make a decision on the BOJ’s reaction to recent stock and foreign- exchange moves.
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said in parliament that the economy was recovering and the price trend is improving, while reiterating he wouldn’t hesitate to act if needed. The yen reversed earlier losses against most of its 31 major counterparts after Asian stocks gave up gains.
“Shibayama’s comments and Kuroda not signaling any warning about current market turmoil sparked stock selling and the yen reversed course,” said Yuji Saito, head of the foreign-exchange department at Credit Agricole SA in Tokyo. “All Kuroda needed to say was that he views markets with a considerable sense of tension. All he needed to do was to ring an alarm bell.”
