financetom
World
financetom
/
World
/
Morning Bid: Taking stock of Japan's historic market crash
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Morning Bid: Taking stock of Japan's historic market crash
Aug 5, 2024 3:10 PM

(Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. 

Asian markets open on Tuesday still reeling from a wild session on Monday that saw Japan's second-biggest stock crash ever spill over into world markets, helping to unleash a wave of volatility usually associated with major crises.

The curious thing is though, there's no smoking gun that explains the scale of the selloff, either in Japan or globally. At least not a singular or obvious one.

Yes, the yen carry and other leveraged trades were probably overcooked, the Bank of Japan was maybe too hawkish and is now headed for a policy error, ditto the Fed by not cutting rates last week, and the AI-inflated Big Tech bubble on Wall Street was well overdue a reversal.

But is that enough to warrant a 12% plunge in Japanese stocks - a fall only exceeded by the 15% slump on Oct. 20, 1987 after Black Monday - or the surge to 65.0 on the U.S. VIX volatility index, a level only ever topped in the market meltdowns of 2008 and 2020?

Perhaps.

But there's a case to make that it's excessive. On the economic side, there's no obvious sign of collapse - Japanese and U.S. services purchasing manager index numbers on Monday showed pretty solid growth.

Indeed, the U.S. services PMI data was enough to push short-dated Treasury yields higher on Monday, halting the recent decline that had also reached historical magnitudes.

This is the febrile atmosphere traders in Asia on Tuesday will received the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest policy decision, inflation figures from Taiwan and the Philippines, and more corporate results from Japan.

The RBA is widely expected to hold rates at 4.35% but could the current turmoil force a cut? Traders are putting a one-in-10 probability on it.

It remains to be seen whether the current volatility proves to be a market-centric episode wiping out leveraged trades across a range of assets without spilling over into the "real" economy, or something more serious.

There have already been calls in some quarters for an emergency, inter-meeting Fed rate cut and earlier on Monday U.S. rates markets had begun to price in the possibility of just that or a 75 basis point cut next month.

But unless there is a clear deterioration in the economic data or deeper market dislocation, this is unlikely. By the U.S. close on Monday that pricing had eased and the VIX index had halved from its peak.

Classic "safe haven" assets gold and two-year Treasuries ended lower, although the yen hit a seven-month high. It has rallied around 13% in three weeks, virtually wiping out its year-to-date losses.

Further signs of yen stress and dislocation may come from the cross-currency basis market, a gauge of funding costs and demand for dollars. Traders will be watching.

Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Tuesday:

- Australia interest rate decision

- Philippines inflation (July)

- Taiwan inflation (July)

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
European Equities Traded in the US as American Depositary Receipts Rise in Friday Trading
European Equities Traded in the US as American Depositary Receipts Rise in Friday Trading
Aug 29, 2024
11:08 AM EDT, 08/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- European equities traded in the US as American depositary receipts were trending higher late Friday morning, rising 0.82% to 1,468.10 on the S&P Europe Select ADR Index. The increase helped raise the index's weekly gain to about 1.3%. From continental Europe, the gainers were led by semiconductor company Sequans Communications ( SQNS )...
Asian Equities Traded in the US as American Depositary Receipts Surges Higher in Friday Trading
Asian Equities Traded in the US as American Depositary Receipts Surges Higher in Friday Trading
Aug 29, 2024
10:49 AM EDT, 08/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian equities traded in the US as American depositary receipts were surging higher Friday morning, climbing 1.2% to 1,977.76 on the S&P Asia 50 ADR Index. The gain helped nudge the index into positive territory for the week. From North Asia, the gainers were led by video-sharing platform Bilibili ( BILI ) and...
CANADA STOCKS-TSX opens lower, pulled down by mining and technology shares
CANADA STOCKS-TSX opens lower, pulled down by mining and technology shares
Aug 29, 2024
Aug 27 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index opened lower on Tuesday, weighed down by mining and technology stocks, while investors digested grim quarterly earnings from major domestic banks. At 9:31 a.m. ET (13:31 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 136.86 points, or 0.59%, at 23,212.11. ...
Morning Bid: Nvidia 'beats' as expected, but fallout limited
Morning Bid: Nvidia 'beats' as expected, but fallout limited
Aug 29, 2024
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan After all that, Nvidia ( NVDA ) beat expectations - which has become expected - and the stock retreated about 5%. This is still August, after all. To be fair, the negative market reception to the artificial intelligence pacesetter's quarterly results overnight was typical of the...
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved