Asia stocks skid with US futures, holding euro gains

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SYDNEY – Relief at a rally on Wall Street was punctured by a retreat in U.S. stock futures as Asian shares tumbled on Tuesday, while the euro held near a one-month high as the July rate hike from the ECB narrowed.

After a firm close on Monday, Nasdaq futures lost 1.5%, with traders blaming an earnings warning from Snap that saw Snapchat owner shares fall 28%.

The S&P 500 futures slipped 0.9%, with some surrendering on Monday’s 1.8% bounce. EUROSTOXX 50 futures are down 0.5% and FTSE futures are down 0.6%.

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MSCI’s broader index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8% in hesitant trading. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8% and Chinese blue chips fell 1.1%.

The market took some consolation from US President Joe Biden’s remarks on Monday that he was considering easing tariffs on China and on Beijing’s ongoing commitment to stimulus.

Unfortunately, China’s zero-cue policy, including the attendant lockdown, has already caused considerable economic damage.

“Following the disappointing activity data for April, we have again lowered our forecast for China’s GDP (gross domestic product) and are now looking for a 2Q GDP contraction of 5.4% per annum, previously -1.5%,” JPMorgan analysts warned.

“Our 2Q global growth forecast stands at just 0.6% year-on-year, easily the weakest quarter since the global financial crisis beyond 2020.”

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A preliminary survey by European and US manufacturing purchasing managers showed some signs of slowing for Tuesday, which has been a resilient year for the global economy.

Japan’s manufacturing activity rose at its slowest pace in three months in May amid supply disruptions, while Toyota announced plans to cut its output.

Analysts are also cutting growth forecasts for the United States as the Federal Reserve looks set to raise interest rates by an entire percentage point in the next two months.

The hackish message is likely to be driven home this week by a host of Fed speakers and minutes of Wednesday’s final policy meeting.

The European Central Bank is also becoming more sophisticated, with President Christine Lagarde surprising many by opening the door to rate hikes in early July.

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It saw the euro at $ 1.0665, bouncing 1.2% overnight in its best session since early March. It is now facing tough chart resistance near $ 1.0756.

The dollar also retreated against a range of sterling and currencies, taking the dollar index down 0.9% overnight. It was up to a fraction at 102.240.

The euro has already jumped sharply to 136.05 Japanese yen, while the dollar has faded slightly to 127.65 yen.

The dollar pullback helped gold gain some ground back to 1,855 an ounce.

Oil prices were caught amid concerns of a possible global recession and the possibility of higher fuel demand from the US summer driving season and plans to reopen Shanghai after a two-month coronavirus lockdown.

US crude was down 66 cents at 9 109.63 a barrel, while Brent was down 70 cents at $ 112.74.

(Edited by Kenneth Maxwell and Kim Kagil)