Asian stocks tick up China’s real estate relief, focus shifts to Sino-US talks

HONG KONG, NOVEMBER 16 (Reuters) – Asian equities were generally higher on Tuesday, as relief in China̵[ads1]7;s real estate sector supported sentiment while investors also kept an eye on a key meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Biden and Xi Jinping opened their closely monitored talks warmly, and both leaders stressed their responsibility to the rest of the world to avoid conflict. read more

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific equities outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 0.27% to a 2-1 / 2 week high, while Japanese Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.39%.

“Investors will be watching closely the first Biden-Xi summit to see if the exchange will lead to any improvement in an already hectic relationship,” said David Chao, global marketing strategist for Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) at Invesco. “Although no breakthrough is expected, it is still a positive first step forward.”

Chao added that the markets in Asia this week also respond to China’s better-than-expected economic data, released on Monday, and the situation in the mainland real estate market.

“So far we have not seen a loss of confidence in some developers, and the government has come out stronger to ensure that homeowners are protected,” he said.

Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) rose 0.4% and the Hong Kong benchmark index (.HSI) rose 0.7%, helped by real estate stocks

An index of Hong Kong-listed developers on the Chinese mainland (.HSMPI) rose as much as 3%. However, shares of Kaisa Prosperity (2168.HK), a real estate service unit of the difficult developer Kaisa Group (1638.HK), fell 14% after the clock resumed the day after the company said the parent company’s liquidity problems would not affect operations. L4N2S70BD

US stock futures S&P 500 e-minis rose 0.11% and Nasdaq futures rose 0.17%.

Wall Street closed little changed as rising government interest rates whetted appetite for technology stocks, but increased interest in finance.

Reference rates on US government bonds rose almost five basis points to a three-week high on Monday as companies rushed to sell debt before liquidity was diluted during holiday trading and ahead of a US government sale of new 20-year bonds on Wednesday.

They went down on Tuesday and were last at 1.6094%, but still up sharply since a month’s lowest level of 1.42% a week ago.

Rising interest rates also helped the dollar, which remained strong at a 16-month high against a basket of its peers.

The foreign exchange markets also drive investors’ assessment of the various reactions to rising inflation from global central banks.

On Monday, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde pushed back on market efforts for tighter monetary policy, saying that doing so now to curb inflation could stifle the rise of the eurozone.

This sent the euro down to near a 16-month low of $ 1,354. The pound was $ 1.3359 near a year low and the dollar was at 114.17 against the yen, within a view of the October four-year high of 114.69.

Recent data showing a strong US economy also helps the dollar, which also casts doubt on the Fed’s view that price pressure will be temporary, prompting speculation that interest rates will rise faster than previously thought.

The UK will publish its labor market report in September later on Tuesday, which analysts at the CBA said “can make or break the case for an interest rate hike this year”.

Later in the day, there will also be US retail, trade prices and industrial production for October, which gives another hint about the health of the economy.

In the oil markets, US crude rose 0.37% to $ 81.18 a barrel. Brent oil rose 0.5% $ 82.48 per barrel.

Gold was steady, spot gold was at $ 1,862 per ounce just before Monday’s highest five months of $ 1870.

Reporting by Alun John; Edited by Sam Holmes

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