off-the-wire

MORNING BID ASIA-Communication breakdown

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
By Jamie McGeever Feb 3 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. The Fed, ECB, and BoE have spoken, and the market's message is: We hear you, but we don't believe you. All three raised interest rates as expected this week, said they will act again at upcoming meetings, and with varying degrees of guidance and conviction said they stand ready to tighten even further if inflation conditions warrant it. But investors aren't buying it. Wall Street and world stocks have jumped, bond yields are tumbling, and economists and rates futures markets are scaling back central bank hiking
expectations. Contrary to what policymakers are surely aiming for,
financial conditions are easing. Look how Germany's 10-year bond yield reacted on Thursday to ECB president Lagarde's press conference - down 20 basis points, one of the biggest falls since the euro was launched in 1999.


According to Goldman Sachs, U.S. financial conditions are the loosest since August and have eased 150 basis points since mid-October. That's despite 225 bps of rate hikes since September. The falling dollar and lower Treasury yields have helped loosen financial conditions across most of emerging Asia in recent weeks too. Regional risk appetite remains firm, even though a pause in the equity rally may be overdue. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index only has to rise around 0.7% on Friday - not an insurmountable challenge on the back of Wall Street's latest bounce - to post its sixth consecutive weekly gain.


That would mark 12 increases out of the last 14 weeks, while the MSCI World index has had only one down day in the last 10. Remarkable runs.


Watch for outsized moves in Asian tech stocks on Friday following the 23% surge in Meta Platforms Inc shares. Apple , Amazon and Google parent Alphabet also reported results after the U.S. close. On the economic data front, a batch of PMI reports will give the latest insight into the health of several key economies in Asia, including China and India, while December retail sales figures from Hong Kong and Singapore will also be released. Here are three key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday: - China Caixin services PMI (January) - India S&P Global Services PMI (January) - U.S. non-farm payrolls (January) <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Hang Seng tech index ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (By Jamie McGeever; Editing by Deepa Babington)

Messaging: jamie.mcgeever.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.