Asia learns to adapt to Korean tensions; Fed views awaited

Thursday, 6 July 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sydney (Reuters): Asian share markets inched back into the black on Wednesday as investors wagered the latest flare-up of tensions on the Korean peninsula would fade away like so many others.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan regained 0.3%, half the losses suffered Tuesday when North Korea fired a missile into Japanese waters.

“North Korea’s success in ICBM test can have some pressure since it means improvements in missile technology, but the test alone will only have limited impact like any other missiles launched before,” said Kim Doo-un, a foreign exchange analyst at Hana Financial Investment.

South Korea’s main index rebounded by 0.36% and Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.25%.

E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were barely changed, while yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes dipped 2 basis points to 2.33%.

In Europe, Eurostoxx futures fell 0.3%, with the DAX off 0.2% and the FTSE 0.1%.

A holiday in the United States and a dearth of major data kept activity muted, though minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting due later in the day could provide some impetus.

Among the few releases in Asia was the Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China which dropped to 51.6 in June, from 52.8 in May.

North Korea said it had conducted a test of a newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile that can carry a large and heavy nuclear warhead.

South Korean and U.S. troops fired missiles into the waters off South Korea to show their deep strike precision capability.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called for global action against Pyongyang’s nuclear threat, though it was not entirely clear what new steps could be taken.

All the saber rattling gave the safe-haven yen an early lift, but the dollar soon steadied at 113.20 yen. Gold was a slim 0.1% firmer at $1,226.10 an ounce.

Moves were minor with the euro steady at $1.1356 and the dollar index down a fraction at 96.182.

Not all together

Investors awaited minutes of the Fed’s June meeting to gauge how committed it was to hiking rates again this year and any detail on plans to wind back its massive balance sheet.

“In the May minutes, ‘a couple’ of participants worried that tight labor-market conditions could pose an inflationary risk, while ‘several others’ saw a downside risk for inflation,” said Kevin Harris, a director at Roubini Global Economics. “We will look for any shift between those two concerns.”

Markets imply around a 60% chance of another rate rise in December and a much shallower path of future increases than most Fed members.

Indeed, while some other central banks had recently sounded more hawkish, signs were any unwinding of stimulus globally would not be a synchronised affair.

The chief economist at the European Central Bank noted healthier inflation was “crucially contingent” on policy staying easy, while Sweden’s central bank sounded reassuringly cautious even as it acknowledged further rate cuts were now unlikely.

Australian policy makers showed no inclination to go down the hawkish route given subdued inflation and a desire to restrain the local currency.