ASIA STOCKS MIXED BUT U.S. FUTURES SAG

Asian shares fluctuated and US futures were a tad weaker Monday after stocks notched another week of record highs, with investors weighing the recovery in global growth and corporate earnings against the latest appalling tallies of COVID-19 infections, Andreea Papuc reported for Bloomberg News.

Benchmarks swung from red to green in Japan, Hong Kong, and China. US futures pared early losses, following a fourth straight weekly gain for the S&P 500 Index. Treasury yields slipped further below recent peaks. Crude oil fell and the dollar rallied from a week of losses.

New COVID-19 cases in the past week surpassed 5.2 million, the most since the pandemic began.

Bitcoin tumbled the most since February over the weekend, after reaching a record last week as crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. went public. The yen gained and the euro underperformed in early Asia trade.

Asian credit markets rallied, led by a rebound in China Huarong Asset Management Co. bonds.

China’s financial regulator said the bad-debt manager had ample liquidity, in the first official comments since the company missed a deadline to report earnings.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.3% as of 10:30 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.4%.

Topix index fell 0.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3%. Hang Seng Index fell 0.5%. Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2%, Kospi index rose 0.2%.

For currencies, the yen was at 108.70 per dollar, up 0.1%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%. The euro traded at $1.1948, down 0.3%. The offshore yuan was at 6.5341 per dollar, down 0.1%.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell two basis points to 1.56%. The yield on Australia’s 10-year bond was steady at 1.73%. For commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude lost 0.7% to $62.71 a barrel. Gold was at $1,773.46 an ounce, declining 0.1%.

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