Stocks face pressure ahead of jobs data, yen rebounds: Market Roundup

(Bloomberg) - Asian stocks followed U.S. shares lower Friday as interest-rate uncertainty and geopolitical tensions weighed on sentiment.

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Stocks in Australia and Japan fell after Thursday's holiday, while Hong Kong stocks hovered between gains and losses. Markets in China and Taiwan were closed for the second consecutive day. U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Resonance 100 both fell.

The yen continued its upward trend, hitting a two-week high as Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda stoked bets for another interest rate hike later this year. The yen rose the most against the dollar in nearly a month on Thursday, retreating from levels that traders had speculated would trigger an intervention.

Elsewhere, oil was higher on Friday, as the Israeli Prime Minister of Agriculture, Benjamin Netanya, said at a meeting of the Security Cabinet that Israel will take action against Iran and its proxies and will hurt those who try to harm Israel. In a telephone conversation, President Joe Biden told Netanya that the support of the United States in its war will depend on new measures to protect civilians.

"If there is a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran, it will likely limit the supply of oil from the Middle East," said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. So far, it's not a problem, but it could soon become one."

Estimates of U.S. non-employment data to be released later Friday will show that the economy added more than 200,000 jobs in March - a further sign of strong economic activity that could prompt the Fed to keep interest rates higher for longer.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said Thursday that interest rates may not need to be cut this year if inflation progress stalls. He was one of more than half a dozen central bankers who spoke before the release of March's jobs data. Meanwhile, resonant Loretta Mester, her counterpart at the Cleveland Fed, said the central bank may be approaching the level of confidence it needs to start cutting rates in the coming months.

"As always, the monthly jobs report will have the final word," said Chris Larkin of Morgan Stanley E*Trade." Investors will be looking for a 'Goldilocks' number that doesn't give the Fed any reason to put off a rate cut without suggesting the labor market is in a serious downturn."

Australian and New Zealand Treasuries bounced back after Treasuries rose in New York trading. 10-year Treasury yields held steady in Asia after slipping 4 basis points to 4.31% in the previous session.

Elsewhere in commodities, gold was lower on Friday after hitting a new record earlier in the week. Copper rose to a 14-month high, continuing the rally in the varmint industrial metal that began in February, in response to rising supply risks.

Important events this week

• Eurozone retail sales, Friday

• On Friday, the U.S. unemployment rate and the number of non-employed persons

• On Friday, Federal Reserve Supervisors Michelle Bowman, Thomas Barkin and Lorie Logan spoke

Main Market Movements

stock (market)

• S&P 500 futures little changed as of 10:53 a.m. Tokyo time

• Nikkei 225 Index Futures (OSE) down 2.5%

• Japan's Topix index fell 1.9 percent

• Australia S&P/ASX 200 Index down 0.8%

• Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.9 percent

• Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 1.5%

Currency

• Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index little changed

• Euro exchange rate little changed at US$1.0827

• The yen rose 0.2% to 151.03 yen per U.S. dollar.

• The offshore RMB exchange rate was little changed at US$7.2512 per US dollar.

• AUD down 0.2% at $0.6572

Encryption Currency

• Bitcoin up 0.3% to $68,178.63

• Ether falls 0.61 TP3T to $3,306.26

debentures

• The yield on the 10-year bond was little changed at 4.31%.

• Japan's 10-year bond yield flat at 0.775

• Australia's 10-year currency yield fell 6 basis points to 4.12 percent.

bulk commodities

• West Texas Kerosene Intermediate crude up 0.11 TP3T to $86.70 per barrel

• Spot gold fell 0.8% to US$2,271.48 per ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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