Stocks Mixed on Trade Volleys; Dollar, Oil Stable

Stocks in Asia put in a mixed session Thursday with Chinese equities again outperforming despite the ongoing tariff to-and-fro between China and the Trump administration. The dollar was steady, while oil held on to Wednesday’s losses.

A firmer yen weighed on Japanese shares before the currency gave up its gains, while Chinese and Hong Kong stocks pushed higher as earnings reports offered a respite from the recent sell-off. Stocks rose in Australia and dipped in South Korea. European futures rose. Treasuries maintained gains as investors scooped up a record $26 billion 10-year auction. The kiwi tumbled to a two-year low after the New Zealand central bank pushed out its forecast for a rate increase by a year amid a weak economic growth outlook.

China said it will impose 25 percent tariffs on an additional $16 billion worth of imports from the U.S. from Aug. 23, matching Washington’s latest move in the trade war. Separately, the U.S. announced new sanctions on Russia, saying it’s made a final determination that Moscow was responsible for the March 4 nerve-agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal in the U.K. The ruble tumbled.

Chinese shares were also underpinned by plans of more measures to grant foreigners further access to capital markets. Meanwhile, China Mobile Ltd.’s profit rose more than analysts estimated in the first half, helping boost a market that last week fell to the lowest this year.

Elsewhere, oil pared a drop to around a seven-week low after the trade tensions between the world’s biggest economies overshadowed a decline in U.S. crude stockpiles. Bitcoin was steady after dropping for four days, leading a sell-off in digital coins of all sizes.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

Samsung Electronics is set to unveil its next Galaxy Note smartphone on Thursday.

U.S. consumer prices probably rose in July from June, consistent with a pickup in inflation that’s projected to keep the Federal Reserve on a path of gradual interest-rate increases, economists forecast before Friday’s release.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Japan’s Topix index fell 0.3 percent at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo.

South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.1 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.2 percent.

The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 2 percent.

S&P 500 Index futures nudged higher.

FTSE 100 futures were 0.2 percent higher as of 7:18 a.m. in London.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2 percent.

Currencies

The yen was flat at 111.99 per dollar.

The offshore yuan traded at 6.8174 per dollar.

The euro bought $1.1615.

The kiwi plunged 1 percent to 66.80 U.S. cents.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 2.95 percent.

Australia’s 10-year bond yield fell about 2 basis points to 2.66 percent.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2 percent to $67.07 a barrel, after slumping 3.2 percent.

Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,216.28 an ounce.

Source: Bloomberg