Asia markets set for slight recovery after recent sell-off, but Hong Kong poised to fall

1 year ago 220

Top view of Seoul in the morning in autumn 2016.

Natthapol Bussai | Moment | Getty Images

Asia-Pacific markets are set for a mixed open as investors see private surveys of business activity from Japan and Australia, as well as the October producer price index from South Korea.

Some markets also are poised to poised to recover slightly after Asia saw a broad sell-off in the last three sessions.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.36% in early trading, recovering from three straight days of losses.

Japan's Nikkei 225 is also set to recover ahead of its October purchasing managers index reading from S&P Global. The futures contract in Chicago was at 31,130 and its counterpart in Osaka at 31,060 against the index's last close of 30,999.55.

However, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index comes back from a holiday with a weak open, with futures for the HSI at 17,044, compared to the index's close of 17,172.13.

Overnight in the U.S., the Nasdaq Composite snapped four days of losses as Treasury yields retreated from their highs and traders looked ahead to the release of corporate earnings from tech industry giants.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield briefly climbed back above the key 5% level before ticking down. It was last trading at about 4.85%.

The tech-heavy index added 0.27%, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.58%, and the S&P 500 fell 0.17%.

— CNBC's Brian Evans contributed to this report.

Tech names rally as investors ready for earnings reports

A handful of technology stocks climbed in Monday's session as investors prepared for their earnings reports coming this week. Those gains helped the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rise 0.4%, performing the best of the three major indexes.

Spotify has rallied more than 3% in the session. The streaming company is one of the major names expected to report before the bell on Tuesday.

Alphabet and Microsoft both added more than 1%, while Snap gained more than 2%. All three companies are slated to post their quarterly financial releases after the bell on Tuesday.

Amazon and Meta traded up by more than 1% and 2%, respectively. Meta's report is expected after Wednesday's closing bell, followed by Amazon after the market closes on Thursday.

To be sure, not every tech stock was rising ahead of earnings. IBM and Intel, which also report later in the week, both slipped in Monday's session.

— Alex Harring

Bitcoin trades above $30,000 to start the week

Bitcoin began the Monday trading day above the key resistance level of $30,000, extending gains from the previous week — its best week since June — helped by optimism around the likelihood the market will soon get its first spot bitcoin ETF as well as a flight to safety.

At 8 a.m. ET the flagship cryptocurrency traded 2.63% higher at $30,670.90, according to Coin Metrics. Ether, crypto's other "blue chip" asset that has had a higher correlation with bitcoin recently, was up 2.5% at $1,677.44.

It has reached $30,000 at several points in 2023 but has struggled to make a sustained move higher. Investors are expecting the approval of a bitcoin ETF to change that between the end of the year and the first half of 2024.

— Tanaya Macheel

Ackman says he's covered short position in long-term Treasurys

Pershing Square's Bill Ackman said he's covered his short position in long-term Treasurys out of concern that heightened geopolitical risk could drive investors to safe-haven assets, pushing up bond prices.

"There is too much risk in the world to remain short bonds at current long-term rates," Ackman said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

Ackman, who is a billionaire hedge fund manager, first revealed he was bearish on the 30-year Treasury note in August. He has been a vocal supporter of Israel in its conflict with Hamas, posting frequently about the war.

— Alex Harring, Yun Li