Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday, following the strong start to the earnings season in the US. Japanese and South Korean stocks gained, while Australian stocks remained steady. Futures contracts for US shares were also little changed. Japanese stocks rose after a holiday, boosted by rebounding factory output and a surge in the yen. Some traders are looking at the possibility of China devaluing the yuan to support its economy. In corporate news, Samsung Electronics reported surging earnings, while Tesla received approval to deploy its driver-assistance system in China. US markets could remain volatile this week, but UBS sees the current environment as supportive for US equities. Early results from the US reporting season suggest that more than 80% of companies are beating expectations. The dominance of big-tech companies may soon give way to a broadening of earnings growth.
Asian stocks are expected to rise as tech stocks lifted Wall Street. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both saw gains on Thursday, with the Nasdaq 100 climbing 1.3%. Australia and Hong Kong markets edged higher, while Japan and mainland China markets were closed for a holiday. The positive performance in US stocks led to early gains in Asian markets. The rally was supported by better-than-estimated Apple results. The yen also rallied to its strongest level against the dollar in almost three weeks. European and Asian shares were mostly higher ahead of a report on the U.S. jobs market. Germany's DAX gained 0.3% to 17,958.12 and the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.5% to 7,950.67. In London, the FTSE 100 added 0.3% to 8,198.88. The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.3% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%. The Japanese yen strengthened slightly against the U.S. dollar amid signs of heavy central bank intervention to tamp down the dollar’s advance. The financial newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that estimates showed the government spending an estimated 8 trillion yen (about $50 billion) in reserves this week to try to keep the yen from slipping further against the dollar. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.5% to 18,475.92, tracking gains on Wall Street. News of fresh moves by Chinese leaders to energize the economy also helped drive buying of technology shares. E-commerce giant Alibaba climbed 4.1% and rival JD.com was up 5.5%. Baidu advanced 4.4%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,629.00 and the Kospi in Seoul slipped 0.3% to 2,676.63. Taiwan's Taiex picked up 0.5%. India's Sensex shed 0.9% to 73,952.37. On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, a day after swinging sharply when the Federal Reserve said it's likely delaying cuts to interest rates but not planning to hike them. The Dow advanced 0.9% and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5%. Economists expect the U.S. government report on jobs to show a slowdown in hiring. However, a report Thursday showed that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. The U.S. economy is in a tight spot, where the hope is that it remains strong enough to stay out of a recession but not so strong that it worsens the already stalled progress on inflation. In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 13 cents to $79.08 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, added 13 cents to $83.80 per barrel.
Stocks jumped sharply on Friday after a softer-than-expected April jobs report boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve could start cutting interest rates soon. The report showed 175,000 jobs gained in April, below the 240,000 jobs expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate edged up to 3.9%, versus 3.8% in the prior month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage figures also came in less than expected, an encouraging sign for inflation. The positive performance in US stocks led to early gains in Asian markets. The rally was supported by better-than-estimated Apple results. The Jupiter/Uranus conjunction of Saturday, April 20, is turning out to be an important turning point for many global stock indices. Several have rallied sharply since their multi-week lows of Friday, April 19; some have even risen to new all-time highs. While others, however, are still struggling to gain traction. In the Asian and Pacific Rim markets, strong rallies were noted in China, Hong Kong, and India. China’s Shanghai Composite (SSE) soared to a new yearly high, supporting our view that a new 5.5-year cycle is underway. The Hang Seng Index of Hong Kong also rallied to its highest level since September 2023. The NIFTY index soared to a new all-time high on Friday in India. However, Australia’s ASX and Japan’s Nikkei were more subdued but held above their Jupiter/Uranus lows of April 19. The divergence was just as apparent in Europe, where the London FTSE soared to a new all-time high on Friday, but the German DAX and Zurich SMI were much weaker, yet held their lows of April 19. However, the Netherlands’ AEX was robust and ended the week testing its all-time high. U.S. stock indices also held their lows of April 17-19 and rallied sharply into Friday, May 3, but not to new all-time highs (yet). Brazil’s Bovespa also had a good week but still remains well off its all-time highs. The key takeaway is that markets reversed off primary cycle lows associated with the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction, the longest-term planetary aspect of the year. Once again, this demonstrates the power of geocosmic studies as an exceptional market timing tool. [f93ac6bc]