Japanese stocks soar as wider markets bounce from brutal selloff
SYDNEY/SINGAPORE, Aug 6 (Reuters) -Japanese stocks jumped at the open on Tuesday, underpinning a recovery across battered Asian share markets and even triggering circuit breakers in some, after central bank officials said all the right things to soothe investor nerves.
The Nikkei .N225 soared more than 8% to above 34,000 in the opening minutes of trading, rebounding sharply from its 31,458 close on Monday. The index had plummeted 12.4% in its worst selloff since the 1987 Black Monday crash.
Wall Street also looked steadier with S&P 500 futures ESc1 rebounding 0.9% in early trade, while Nasdaq futures NQc1 rose 1.2%. The S&P 500 .SPX had lost 3.00% over Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC down 3.43%.
"After the breathtaking and historic moves seen across Asian markets yesterday, driven predominantly by a significant liquidation of margin positions, we look for a solid counter rally on open today," said Chris Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone.
However, he cautioned that the level of implied volatility for the Nikkei was at a stratospheric 70%, suggesting fireworks were likely for some time yet.
"After such a furious shake-out of leveraged positioning, with Japanese banks absolutely taken to the cleaners, it will take the bravest of investors to buy with any conviction."
Currencies also seemed to be reversing some of Monday's sharp moves, as the dollar edged up to 145.64 yen JPY=EBS, having sunk 1.5% on Monday to as deep as 141.675. The yen has shot higher in recent sessions as investors were squeezed out of carry trades, where they borrowed yen at low rates to buy higher yielding assets.
The dollar pared its losses on the safe-haven Swiss franc, holding at 0.8546 francs CHF=EBS from a low of 0.8430.
Treasury yields had also come off their lows, in part in reaction to a rebound in the U.S. ISM services index to 51.4 for July. In particular, it employment index jumped 5 points to 51.1, suggesting last week's payrolls report may have overstated the weakness in the labour market.
"Gauging the bottom of such historic selloffs is complicated and investors will most likely remain cautious before pouring capital back into equity markets," said Boris Kovacevic, Austria-based global macro strategist at payments firm Convera.
"However, the dollar-yen pair has now fallen 12% since peaking five weeks ago and is in highly oversold territory. The yen is therefore vulnerable to any upside surprises in U.S. macro data leading investors to reconsider the recession trade. This would help Japanese equities stabilize," he said.
Yields on 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR were back at 3.84%, having been as low as 3.667% at one stage.US/
Federal Reserve officials did their best to reassure markets with Fed San Francisco President Mary Daly saying it was "extremely important" to prevent the labor market tipping into a downturn.
Daly added that her mind was open to cutting interest rates as necessary and policy needed to be proactive.
The comments underpinned market expectations that the Fed would cut by 50 basis points at its September meeting, with futures implying an 87% chance of such an outsized move.
The market has around 115 basis points of easing priced in for this year, and a similar amount for 2025.FEDWATCH
In precious metals, gold failed to get a safe haven bid amid talk investors were taking profits to cover losses elsewhere. Spot gold XAU= stood at $2,409 an ounce XAU= after losing 1.52% overnight.
In energy markets, oil prices bounced early Tuesday as news that several U.S. personnel were injured in an attack against a military base in Iraq stoked fears of a wider conflict. O/R
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 climbed $1.18, or 1.6%, to $74.12 per barrel.
Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Nikkei vs yen https://reut.rs/3AcbM5e
Nikkei 225’s biggest fall in more than three decades https://reut.rs/4cg357f
Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Wayne Cole, Rae Wee and Vidya Ranganathan
Editing by Shri Navaratnam
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
