SINGAPORE, April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures
bounced as buybacks and earnings beats boosted tech giants in
after-hours trade, and helped the mood in Hong Kong on
Wednesday, however banking nerves kept bonds well bid and the
dollar supported through a cautious Asia session.
Nasdaq futures were up 1.3% and S&P 500 futures up 0.4% following better-than-expected profits at
Microsoft and a $70 billion stock buyback at Google
parent Alphabet . Both stocks rose after the bell.
Facebook parent Meta Platforms reports later in the
day, with U.S. markets on edge over softening U.S. data and
fresh regional bank jitters.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan touched a one-month low before recovering
slightly to trade 0.3% higher in the afternoon.
European futures were last 0.6% lower.
On Tuesday, First Republic Bank shares were sold to
a record low after the bank disclosed a $100 billion plunge in
deposits.
The Wall Street Journal's "Fed whisperer" Nick Timiraos also
wrote an article titled "Why the banking mess isn't over",
including comments from former Dallas Fed President Robert
Kaplan saying bank issues have a long way to run.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both fell heavily
while bonds rallied sharply and interest rate futures markets
priced in a higher chance of Fed cuts later in the year.
The U.S. dollar rose broadly against most majors, save for
the safe-haven yen, and in bond and currency markets the moves
haves stuck.
"Clearly, the fear factor drove dollar gains," said analysts
at Mizuho.
"The fear of contagion and the repeated mantra of isolated
incidents has inevitably led to 'shy' and yield seeking deposits
seeking to bank with the U.S. Treasury," they said, referring to
the broad rally in bonds.
Two-year Treasury yields dropped 18.7 basis
points on Tuesday and were steady at 3.9365% in Asia. Ten-year
yields fell nearly 12 bps, their sharpest drop in
more than a month. Yields fall when bond prices rise. Elsewhere the mood was jittery. Investors brushed off a
record loss at South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix as it
forecast improving market conditions. The Hang Seng tech index swung from small losses to a 2% gain. Australian inflation eased from 33-year highs, nudging the
Aussie dollar to a six-week low at $0.6603 and firming
up market wagers that the central bank will keep rates on hold
at its meeting next week.
The euro was last at $1.0987. Gold was
pinned just below $2,000 an ounce.
Brent crude futures hovered at $81.35 a barrel
having dropped almost 4% overnight with the risk-averse mood.
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(Editing by Sam Holmes)
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