Asian markets showed little movement, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan remaining flat. The Nikkei in Japan and Australia’s resource-heavy shares also experienced minimal changes, with the former being mostly unchanged and the latter slipping 0.2%.
Investor sentiment was dampened by fresh geopolitical concerns and the approaching critical time for debt ceiling negotiations in the United States. US President Joe Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy are scheduled to meet to discuss the debt ceiling, as the June 1 deadline approaches and the federal government’s ability to meet its debts comes into question.
US market futures indicated a decline, with S&P 500 futures down 0.1% and Nasdaq futures trading flat in early Monday trading. The US market had already experienced a decline on Friday due to reports of an impasse in the debt ceiling negotiations.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at the possibility of lesser interest rate increases, considering the tighter credit conditions resulting from the banking crisis. US banking stocks continued to decline, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested that more bank mergers might be necessary following a series of failures.
In the currency market, the US dollar index retreated from its two-month high. The euro rose by 0.1% to $1.0819, the Japanese yen climbed by 0.1% to 137.79 per dollar, and the offshore yuan remained relatively stable at 7.0241 per dollar.
Chinese shares experienced declines after the People’s Bank of China opted to keep its 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates unchanged. The Shanghai Composite fell by 0.15%, while the Shenzhen Component traded 0.44% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also showed a slight decline, trading around 40 points lower at 19,410, while South Korea saw a gain of 0.6%.
The SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Indian stock market, was down by 0.18% at 18,205.5. In Australia, shares declined with the S&P/ASX 200 index falling by 0.1% to 7,270.4, following its strong performance in the previous week. Investors will also be observing Japan’s machinery orders for March on Monday.
