Investors also weighed new comments from Federal Reserve officials on the outlook for additional interest-rate increases.
ASX futures were 8 points, or 0.1 percent, lower at 7140 as of 8:00 am AEST on Tuesday, indicating a slip at the open.
The S&P 500 was 0.2 percent lower, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4 percent and in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 percent, or around 20 points. Some of last week’s excitement cooled to start a new week.
Lael Brainard, the Fed’s chairwoman, said on Monday that recent inflation data provided some comfort that price pressures were no longer broadening and that the central bank could soon slow its pace of interest-rate increases.
But Fed governor Christopher Waller said over the weekend that policy makers still had “a ways to go” and would want to see more such data points before withdrawing its foot from the brake.
Seven of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 rose Monday, led by gains in health care and materials stocks.
In commodities, Brent crude dropped 3.61 a barrel, gold was unchanged at US$1,772.46.
In the local bond market, the Australian yield on the 2 Year government bond climbed to 3.16% and the 10 Year to 3.76%. Elsewhere, the yield on 2 Year US Treasury bills slipped to 4.4% and the yield on 10 Year US Treasury bonds fell to 3.87%.
The Australian dollar fell to 67.12 US cents. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against 16 others, rose slightly to 99.44.
Asia
China’s central bank and its top banking regulator released a broad-based set of measures to shore up housing demand and supply, according to a notice circulated on Friday to the country’s financial institutions and policy making officials. The authenticity of the document was verified by people close to the central bank.
“It’s been a very jumbling start to the trading week and much attention is being attributed to China where the combination of Covid pragmatism and property market assistance is bringing some relief,” said OANDA.
For most of the past year, China has been grappling with Xi Jinping’s two-pronged campaigns to tame surging property prices and to snuff out any traces of Covid-19 within the country’s borders.
Now, as he undertakes a push to ease pandemic restrictions, China’s leader, Mr. Xi, appears to be signaling a reversal of his real estate crackdown as well, a tacit admission of the economic pain and public discontent that the two policies have helped create.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leapt 1.7 percent, with property shares leading the way higher on reports that Beijing officials had signed off on sweeping measures to prop up the real estate sector. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.13%
And in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.1 percent, the loss driven by a 13 percent decline for the technology conglomerate SoftBank. The investment company reported additional losses and disappointed investors by failing to announce an expected share buyback.
Europe
European stocks rise in Monday trading. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.14%, the German DAX gained 0.62%, and the French CAC 40 index added 0.22%.
The FTSE 100 in London gained 0.9 percent, with media stocks among the standouts after the company Informa issued an upbeat trading statement and raised guidance for the year.
Healthcare names were also among the stocks supporting the index as GSK shares gained after a phase two trial, the Enhertu, Imfinzi and Lynparza combinations of AstraZeneca won approval for use in the EU in the latest positive news about the battle against breast cancer. Ocado led the way as the day’s biggest riser, rising 14%, while Informa and B&M European Value Retail were up 5.8% and 4.6%. Harbour Energy sank 9.6% to the bottom of the session, closely followed by Intermediate Capital Group and Unite Group with losses of 3.6% and 2.5% respectively.
North America
Stocks in the United States struggled to find direction Monday after last week’s big rally, as investors parsed fresh comments from Federal Reserve officials on the prospects for additional interest-rate increases.
The S&P 500 was down 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4% lower in afternoon trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 percent, or roughly 20 points. Some of the excitement of last week cooled to start the week.
“The data today that has come in on inflation gives some reassurance,” Fed Chairwoman Lael Brainard said on Monday about recent price data showing signs that inflation was no longer broadening, and that the central bank could soon slow increases in interest rates.
However, Fed governor Christopher Waller said over the weekend that policy makers still had “a ways to go” and wanted to see further such data points before easing off the brake.
Among the 11 sectors in the S&P 500, seven were higher Monday sectors, and health care and materials led the way.
Tesla shares declined 1.3%. Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, said he had too much work following a takeover at Twitter and that he was running Tesla’s operations “extremely hard.”
Shares of Hasbro slumped 8.9%, putting it on track for its biggest one-day percentage decline since October 2020. The owner of Monopoly board games and My Little Pony dolls declined after Bank of America analysts double downgraded the stock to underperform from buy, stating the company is overproducing the Magic: The Gathering card game.
