ASIA-PAC EQUITY WRAP: Asian stocks were mostly lower after banking sector fears resurfaced in the US, although US futures found some reprieve from big tech earnings

Analysis details (05:53)

Asia-Pac equity markets were mostly lower following the losses on Wall St where banking sector fears resurfaced as First Republic Bank shares fell by around 50% due to an exodus of deposits and with the lender considering up to USD 100bln in asset sales, although US equity futures found some reprieve overnight with E-mini Nasdaq 100 futures rallying after earnings from tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft beat on their top and bottom lines. ASX 200 (-0.3%) was subdued but with downside stemmed as participants digested somewhat mixed inflation data in which the headline CPI readings for Q1 topped forecasts, but all other components were softer than expected and supported the view that the economy has passed peak inflation. Nikkei 225 (-0.9%) declined amid pressure in the banking sector and disappointment in Japan after the failed lunar module landing which resulted in a glut of sell orders for ispace shares. Hang Seng (+0.6%) and Shanghai Comp. (-0.3%) were mixed with early weakness in tech after US Republican senators urged for US government measures to address Chinese cloud companies including placing sanctions on Huawei Cloud and adding Alibaba Cloud to the export control list, although it was also reported that China's State Council pledged to expand the export and import scale of key products and will properly respond to unreasonable foreign trade restrictions.

26 Apr 2023 - 05:45- Data- Source: Newswires