Asian stocks were poised for declines, tracking moves on Wall Street as elevated oil prices continued to stoke inflation concerns. Equity-index futures for Japan, Australia and South Korea pointed to a second day of declines for a regional stock gauge. US stock contracts were little changed after the S&P 500 retreated from a record and the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.2%.
US oil advanced 0.8% in early Asian trading after Brent settled around $100 as traders weighed an increase in Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz against resilient flows from the Middle East. Ten-year Treasuries rebounded from session lows on Wednesday after a solid $39 billion auction, though yields remained near their highest since 2002.
Minutes from the Fed’s September meeting showed officials unanimously backed a rate increase, with many supporting the move as insurance against stronger price pressures. “Another rate hike is probably coming this year because current policy isn’t very restrictive,” said David Russell at Trade Station. All 19 Fed officials backed last month’s decision to raise the target range for the benchmark rate by a quarter point to 3.75% to 4%.
Traders were also watching France’s fiscal strains and the coming earnings season. Samsung Electronics Co. is set to report its preliminary quarterly earnings Thursday. Barclays Plc strategists say AI remains a key earnings driver, though rising debt issuance is putting returns under greater scrutiny.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing