Asia Stocks Resume Slide Amid China Intervention; Metals Rise 

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of regional shares erased earlier gains and the Shanghai Composite Index resumed its slide as government funds were said to be buying up shares. Nickel in London rose 1.3 percent. Futures on the S&P 500 advanced 0.1 percent after the index’s sixth-worst start to a year in data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 1927.

“There’s more easing ahead from the Chinese,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy in Sydney at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which oversees about $115 billion. “I expect them to cut interest rates and or the reserve-requirement ratio again. We’ve been reminded that volatility in financial markets remains high and that the global economy still needs monetary policy support.”

China moved to support its stock market as state-controlled funds bought equities and the securities regulator signaled a selling ban on major investors will remain beyond this week’s expiration date, according to people familiar with the matter. The central bank conducted the biggest reverse-repurchase operations since September. A 7 percent slump in mainland China shares on Monday triggered a trading halt there on the first day of business in 2016. The rout, which spread throughout Asia, Europe and the U.S., was sparked by weak factory data in China and exacerbated by a slide in American manufacturing.

Stocks

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was 0.4 percent lower and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9 percent at 2:36 p.m. local time. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 1.6 percent, and New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index slipped 0.7 percent in Wellington’s first day of trading for the year.

The MSCI All-Country World Index was little changed after tumbling 2.1 percent Monday, exceeding its slide of 1.5 percent on the first day of 2001. South Korea’s Kospi index was up 0.6 percent following the last session’s 2.2 percent slide. Malaysian and Indonesian shares also climbed.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery rose 0.1 percent to $36.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after Monday’s 0.8 percent decline. U.S. crude inventories are forecast to remain unchanged, keeping supplies more than 130 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average, according to a Bloomberg survey before government data Wednesday.

Nickel rose to $8,610 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, while copper, aluminum, and zinc also increased more than 1 percent as industrial metals pared the biggest decline since September. The LME Index of six base metals sank the most since Sept. 22 on Monday after data showed weaker factory activity in both China and the U.S., the world’s two biggest metals consumers.

Gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,078.03 an ounce, gaining for a second day.

Currencies

The Australian dollar gained 0.3 percent while the New Zealand currency dropped 0.2 percent. The yen traded near the highest in more than two months.

Indonesia’s rupiah climbed 0.8 percent, gaining for the first time in six days, as the government’s latest fuel-price cuts spurred optimism that consumer spending will increase and help the economy.