By The Financial District
Jun 18, 20212 min
Asian stocks drifted Friday after a rally in US technology shares and Treasuries Thursday, as investors unwound some of this year’s dominant reflation trades. The dollar pared gains and commodities steadied after overnight losses, Andreea PapuC reported for Bloomberg News.
Equities climbed in Hong Kong and Australia, and were little changed in Japan and South Korea. In China, shares slipped after US regulators proposed a ban on products from Huawei Technologies Co. and four other Chinese electronics companies.
US futures edged higher after a fresh bout of rotation from cyclical stocks pushed the tech-heavy Nasdaq gauge to another record. The benchmark S&P 500 ended the US session flat.
Treasury yields pared a slide spurred by speculation investors were unwinding bets on a steeper curve, after Federal Reserve officials signaled monetary-policy tightening could start sooner than previously thought, helping to rein in the risk that inflation might get out of hand. Australian 10-year yields retreated.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 12:11 p.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 ended the session roughly flat. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.3%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%. Japan’s Topix index slipped 0.3%.
South Korea’s Kospi index was little changed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.3%. Hang Seng Index Index rose 0.5%. Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4%. Euro Stoxx 50 futures slipped 0.1%.
The Japanese yen was at 110.20 per dollar, little changed. The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 6.4510 per dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.1%.
The euro was at $1.1922, up 0.1%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries edged up a basis point to 1.52%, retracing the prior session’s seven basis point drop. Australia’s 10-year bond yield fell more than three basis points to 1.61%. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.9% to $70.37 a barrel. Gold was at $1,784.76 an ounce, up 0.6%, Nancy Moran reported for Bloomberg News.