Asian stocks continue to struggle for the second day in a row as pessimism at the leading central banks, doubts over global growth and mixed data from the US and China questioned the earlier advances. Adding to the woes are the latest signals from the US that could damage its trade relations with the EU.
MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan trimmed 0.3% of its highest levels since August whereas Japan’s was almost flat by the press time.
Chinese shares couldn’t ignore soft consumer price index (CPI) numbers as the headline blue-chip CSI300 index was losing around 1.0% and the Hang Seng was down 0.80% by the time of writing.
Australian traders were also disappointed as can be seen in nearly 0.2% declines of the S&P/ASX200 index. Indian punters had their own doubts but followed the suit as the Sensex remain marginally into the negative region while Korea’s KOSPI also observed Indian pattern.
Risk sentiment was also soft the US 10-year treasury yield clings to the downside of 2.47%.
Crude prices also refrain from extending their run beyond five-month high as recent warnings on the global growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) followed another statement mentioning likely dangers if the US President Donald Trump maintains pressure on the Federal Reserve. It is needless to mention the increase in EIA US oil stock change and receding geopolitical tension as additional catalysts for soft energy prices.
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