Asian Stocks Snap Gains as Commodities Rise: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian shares took a breather on Tuesday after seven days of gains and as a gauge of commodities reached a 15-month high. Traders’ focus turns to earnings from bellwether chipmaker Nvidia Corp. later in the week.

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Japanese shares rose, while South Korean ones retreated. The MSCI’s all-country gauge — which has had an eight-day winning streak — was little changed in early Asian trading.

The Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index reached its highest level since January 2023 on Monday as copper and gold hovered near records, and after wheat prices surged.

The S&P 500 closed near all-time highs, and Nvidia — the last of the so-called Magnificent Seven companies to report earnings this season and one of the top companies powering the artificial-intelligence frenzy — rallied on a bullish analyst call. Investors are waiting for evidence of high demand for its chips.

“For the market to keep momentum this week, it may come down to just one stock – Nvidia,” said Jay Woods at Freedom Capital Markets. “It sure feels like the hype for this earnings event will be the talk of trading desks and financial media all week.”

In Asia, China’s economic struggles remain in the spotlight, with fresh data showing there’s little sign of a turnaround in its debt-plagued property sector. Local governments reaped the least revenue in eight years through land sales last month, showing the fiscal strains faced by those authorities who depend on such revenue for a large chunk of their total income.

US bond futures edged down as Treasury yields closed higher in the overnight session amid a busy corporate issuance slate. Australian bonds slipped ahead of the release of RBA meeting minutes.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 has set multiple records in 2024 as US stocks have been on a $12 trillion rally since late October. One part of that is hopes for a soft landing with the economy staying moderately strong while inflation cools, which is spurring bets the Fed will cut rates this year.

Elsewhere, commodities traders will be looking to see if the rallies that saw both copper and gold surge to all-time highs on Monday can be maintained. Brent hovered near $84 a barrel after posting its first weekly advance this month, while West Texas Intermediate settled near $80.

Story continues

Key events this week:

• Fed’s Thomas Barkin, Christopher Waller, John Williams, Raphael Bostic, Susan Collins, Loretta Mester speak, Tuesday

• US existing home sales, Wednesday

• Fed minutes, Wednesday

• Nvidia earnings, Wednesday

• Eurozone S&P Global Services PMI, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, consumer confidence, Thursday

• G-7 finance meeting in Stresa, Italy, May 23-25

• US new home sales, initial jobless claims, Thursday

• Fed’s Raphael Bostic speaks, Thursday

• US durable goods, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

• Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:07 a.m. Tokyo time

• Hang Seng futures fell 0.7%

• Japan’s Topix rose 0.3%

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed

• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.3%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

• The euro was little changed at $1.0859

• The Japanese yen was little changed at 156.38 per dollar

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2462 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 2.6% to $71,334.09

• Ether rose 5.3% to $3,686.4

Bonds

Commodities

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Rita Nazareth.

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