SINGAPORE: Asian shares and global stock futures tumbled on Wednesday while oil prices hit multi-month lows as a sharp tech selloff on Wall Street and resurgent worries about US growth drove investors out of risky assets.
Japan’s Nikkei led the slump in Asia, falling more than 3%, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 1.6% in early trade.
September has historically been a bad month for stocks, though analysts pointed to a confluence of factors behind the rout, including tepid US manufacturing data.
Wall Street closed sharply lower overnight after the US returned from a holiday at the start of the week, with AI darling Nvidia tumbling nearly 10% as investors reined in their enthusiasm about artificial intelligence.
“The air of portfolio de-risking as the US cranked back up after the Labor Day holiday was seen across all areas within the capital markets,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.
“Growth concerns were the key theme on the day, with cyclical-sensitive assets smacked and hedges laid down aggressively.”
US stock futures extended declines on Wednesday, with S&P 500 futures easing 0.5%, while Nasdaq futures shed 0.75%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures slumped more than 1% and FTSE futures declined 0.73%. “(There) was plenty of blame to go around. Nvidia. Tech Soft spots in US data. China gloom,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho Bank.
Recent data from China pointed to an economy that’s still struggling to mount a solid recovery, raising calls for further stimulus from Beijing.
Asia shares set for solid monthly gain, dollar slumps on growing US rate cut bets
Worries over the sluggish outlook in China - the world’s biggest oil importer - have in turn further exacerbated the decline in oil prices due to expectations of weakening demand.
Brent crude futures bottomed at $73.32 a barrel on Wednesday while US crude hit a trough of $69.83, both their lowest levels since December.
They had fallen more than 4% in the previous session. Elsewhere, stocks in Hong Kong opened lower, in line with regional peers, with the Hang Seng Index last down 0.8%. China’s CSI300 blue-chip index lost 0.6%.
Data dump
A slew of US economic data is due this week, including figures on job openings, jobless claims and the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report out on Friday.
Given the Federal Reserve’s labour market focus, Friday’s release could decide whether a rate cut expected this month will be regular or super-sized.
“Everyone’s been cheering on the idea of rate cuts, but the idea of having a rate cut isn’t a great thing because it means things are worse economically than what might have been the case,” said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG.
Ahead of the releases, moves in currencies and US Treasuries were less dramatic than those seen in equities, though safe-haven currencies like the dollar and the yen were buoyed by safety bids.
The yen was last steady at 145.43 per dollar, while a rebound in the greenback pushed the euro further away from a 13-month high.
The common currency last bought $1.1054.
Sterling fell 0.08% to $1.3105.
“I think it looks a little bit treacherous, the week ahead,” said Sycamore. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield eased a touch and was last at 3.8348%, while the two-year yield was last at 3.8672%.
In commodities, spot gold rose 0.04% to $2,493.85 an ounce.
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