Euro to Dollar fell 0.2 percent, Asian stocks trade mixed; Key events coming up this week 

Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday after a muted U.S. trading session, with Japanese shares extending gains as the yen remained under pressure. The dollar pushed higher as emerging-market currencies slid, led by Indonesia’s rupiah.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average ticked up a day after its highest close since 1991. Stocks in Hong Kong underperformed as traders returned from a long weekend, and equities also fell in Australia and South Korea. China’s markets are shut. Earlier, the S&P 500 Index finished higher, though more stocks fell than rose in the benchmark index. The euro weakened alongside the pound amid ongoing speculation over the U.K.’s Brexit strategy.

Global investor sentiment remains fragile, even after a deal between the U.S. and Canada to revamp the Nafta bloc with Mexico. Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. in downgrading forecasts for the Chinese yuan and other Asian currencies in recent days.

Sino-American tensions remain in focus after the Chinese navy dispelled an American missile destroyer from waters near South China Sea islands, in China’s account of the incident. Meantime, political drama in Washington still swirls around President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, which may feed through to November congressional elections and affect the outlook for the administration’s agenda.

Elsewhere, oil consolidated around its highest in almost four years as a slowdown in U.S. drilling adds to concern over supply losses from Iran and Venezuela. Indonesia’s rupiah fell past 15,000 per dollar for the first time since 1998 a day after inflation came in slower than forecast, giving the central bank less cause to raise interest rates further. The Australian dollar was little changed after the central bank kept its benchmark rate at a record low, with no suggestion on when it might shift policy.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

• U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May speaks Oct. 3. in Birmingham.
• A central bank policy decision from the Reserve Bank of India is due Friday.
• U.S. employment reports for September also due Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Japan’s Topix index climbed 0.5 percent and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.2 percent as of 2:20 p.m. in Tokyo.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.7 percent.
• South Korea’s Kospi index lost 1 percent.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 1.8 percent.
• S&P 500 futures fell 0.2 percent. The S&P 500 itself rose 0.4 percent Monday.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.5 percent.

Currencies

• The yen was little changed at 113.95 per dollar, near the weakest since November 2017.
• The offshore yuan was at 6.8868 per dollar.
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent.
• The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.1557.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.08 percent.
• Australia’s 10-year bond yield rose two basis points to 2.69 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3 percent to $75.55 a barrel after hitting the highest level since 2014 Monday.
• Gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,192.60 an ounce.
• LME copper fell 0.6 percent to $6,213.50 a metric ton.

Source: Bloomberg

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