Asia-Pacific equities seesaw around a 2.5-year low as fears emanating from China and Japan flash mixed signals to defend the stocks during early Tuesday.
That said, a sharp jump in Chinese shares triggered fears of market intervention from Beijing, which in turn allowed traders to pare some losses. However, an absence of confirmation allowed equity bulls to pare some gains. Further, Japan’s stealth intervention also supported the Asia-Pacific equities.
While portraying the mood, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan drops 4.5% intraday to a 2.5-year low. However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rises 1.2% while Chinese equities are on an average 1.0% up on a day.
Amid these plays, Reuters stated that the Asian benchmark is nursing losses of nearly 32% so far this year, weighed by big falls in Hong Kong shares while emerging markets such as India and Indonesia have gained on improving growth prospects.
The news also mentioned that reports of the size of transactions on Friday and Monday, and moves in USD/JPY, leave no doubt in the minds of most that intervention took place. That said, this new strategy leaves open the possibility of smaller, perhaps more frequent interventions, and could keep market participants cautious for longer.
Elsewhere, the US Dollar Index (DXY) remains on the back foot around 111.85, taking rounds to intraday low while struggling to extend the week-start gains amid the mixed clues in the market and the downbeat US data, as well as an absence of Fedspeak. It should be noted that the US 10-year Treasury yields remain pressured around 4.21%, down two basis points (bps) while the US stock futures remain mildly offered. Also, stocks in the Asia-Pacific region are mostly negative led by China.
Moving on, a light calendar could test equity traders amid an absence of the Fed speakers. Though, looming risks to the major economies and likely central bank aggression favors the gold sellers ahead of Thursday’s US Gross Domestic Product for the third quarter (Q3).