(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia are poised to track their US peers lower on Thursday after underwhelming earnings from Nvidia Corp. dampened the outlook for tech stocks.
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Equity futures in Australia, Japan and Hong Kong all pointed to losses, while the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 3.6%. Contracts for US shares declined after Nvidia slumped 8% in post-market trading following a sales forecast that disappointed some on Wall Street.
The outlook threatened to cool an AI frenzy that has transformed Nvidia into the world’s second-most-valuable company. The chipmaker is the key beneficiary of a race to upgrade data centers to handle AI software, and its sales forecasts have become a barometer for that spending boom.
Chipmakers in Korea, Taiwan and Japan are likely to be in the forefront of any negative waves which roll across the region in Thursday’s session, with tech heavyweights Taiwan Semiconductor Co. and SK Hynix Inc. likely to be weighed by the results.
“Buckle in, it’s going to be a rough ride for Asian equity markets today,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG in Sydney. “Nvidia has been a bellwether for market sentiment, taking stock markets globally along for the ride with it and I think the opposite will also be true.”
The S&P 500 at one point headed toward its worst drop since the Aug. 5 meltdown. The gauge pushed away from that threshold, closing down 0.6%. Wall Street’s favorite volatility gauge — the VIX — surged to around 17. Treasury 10-year yields rose two basis points to 3.83%, while Bitcoin dipped below $60,000.
In Asia, investors will be keeping a close eye on Chinese equities after the benchmark CSI 300 fell to its lowest since February on Wednesday amid a sputtering economy. UBS Group AG downgraded its forecast for the nation’s growth for this year and the next, citing a deeper-than-expected property market slump that’s yet to see a bottom.
Meanwhile, Chinese food delivery service Meituan reported quarterly results that beat estimates. That outperformance stood out during a dismal earnings season for Chinese consumer-oriented companies. This week, PDD Holdings Inc. — long viewed as a beneficiary of China’s consumption downgrade — stunned markets with an unexpectedly gloomy business outlook that drove home the weakness plaguing the world’s No. 2 economy.
Elsewhere, Nippon Steel Corp. plans to invest an additional $1.3 billion at plants operated by United States Steel Corp. as the Japanese company steps up efforts to secure union support for a takeover bid that’s been opposed by both President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Bar Too High?
While Nvidia’s guidance underwhelmed, revenue more than doubled to $30 billion in the fiscal second quarter, which ended July 28. And the Santa Clara, California-based company’s board approved an additional $50 billion in stock buybacks.
“Here’s the issue: the size of the beat this time was much smaller than we’ve been seeing,” said Ryan Detrick at Carson Group. “Even future guidance was raised, but again not by the tune from previous quarters. This is a great company that is still growing revenue at 122%, but it appears the bar was just set a tad too high.”
Later Thursday, investors will shift focus to key US data including a growth reading, personal consumption and weekly jobless claims to help firm bets the Federal Reserve will quickly ease policy this year. Fed Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said it “may be time to cut” but he’s still looking for additional data to support lowering interest rates next month.
“The state of the labor market will set the pace and timing of rate cuts, as long as inflation progress remains on track,” after Fed chair Jerome Powell said he has little tolerance for further weakness, ANZ Bank strategists including David Croy wrote in a note.
In commodities, oil’s slide extended into a third day to trade toward $74 a barrel after a recent geopolitical-driven rally failed to push futures above the 200-day moving average, which is now serving as a ceiling for price gains. Gold held most of Wednesday’s loss in early trading.
Key events this week:
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Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
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US GDP, initial jobless claims, Thursday
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Fed’s Raphael Bostic speaks, Thursday
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Japan unemployment, Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
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Eurozone CPI, unemployment, Friday
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US personal income, spending, PCE; consumer sentiment, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
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S&P 500 futures fell 0.7% as of 8:36 a.m. Tokyo time
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Hang Seng futures fell 0.4%
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S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 0.3%
Currencies
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
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The euro was little changed at $1.1125
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The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 144.33 per dollar
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The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1290 per dollar
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The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6784
Cryptocurrencies
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Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $59,102.21
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Ether fell 0.4% to $2,528.16
Commodities
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
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