TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Asian shares set to dip as investors await key data

John McCrank (Reuters)
New York, United States
Tue, September 15, 2020 Published on Sep. 15, 2020 Published on 2020-09-15T09:04:29+07:00

Change text size

Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone

Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
People wearing surgical masks walk past a screen showing Nikkei index outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon People wearing surgical masks walk past a screen showing Nikkei index outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)

A

sian shares looked set to open lower on Tuesday as investors shifted focus to upcoming data and central bank meetings although positive developments around potential COVID-19 vaccines and increased deal activity are likely to stem losses.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 futures were down 0.22 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures lost 0.08 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures were flat after Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga won a ruling party leadership election, paving the way for him to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 gained 0.11 percent.

On the economic data front, China’s industrial production and retail sales for August are expected to show an improving economy later on Tuesday. Chinese house price data for August is also due.

“The global economic recovery is currently being driven by China’s fast rebound,” said Joseph Capurso, head of international economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “As a result, market participants will likely be very sensitive to any downside surprises to the Chinese data.”

US retail sales figures from August are due Wednesday.

Investors will also look to central banks for direction, with the US Federal Reserve starting a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, the first since unveiling a landmark shift to a more tolerant stance on inflation in August. The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England announce their respective policy decisions on Thursday.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ended up 1.06 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1.18 percent and the S&P 500 rose 1.27 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.87 percent.

US stocks rose after drugmaker AstraZeneca said it resumed its British clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine, one of the most advanced in development. Pfizer Inc and US-listed shares of Germany’s BioNTech gained after proposing an expansion to regulators for their phase 3 trial to about 44,000 participants.

Technology shares rallied after cloud services company Oracle said it would team up with China’s ByteDance to keep TikTok operating in the United States, beating Microsoft Corp in a deal structured as a partnership rather than an outright sale.

Elsewhere, SoftBank Group jumped 8.96 percent to mark its biggest daily gain since March 25, after the company said it would sell chip designer Arm to Nvidia Corp for as much as US$40 billion in a deal set to reshape the semiconductor landscape.

The US dollar dropped 2.2 percent against a basket of currencies, hitting a two-week low versus the yen, as demand for the safe haven currency eased amid the rise in equities.

US crude recently rose 0.35 percent to $37.39 per barrel.

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.

Share options

Quickly share this news with your network—keep everyone informed with just a single click!

Change text size options

Customize your reading experience by adjusting the text size to small, medium, or large—find what’s most comfortable for you.

Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone

Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!

Continue in the app

Get the best experience—faster access, exclusive features, and a seamless way to stay updated.