Asian stocks and Japanese Yen fell; The main moves in financial markets 

Asian stocks posted further losses Friday after another slide in the U.S. overnight. China’s equities reversed losses after verbal intervention by the nation’s top financial regulators, who assured they’ll keep financial risks under control.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index headed for its worst three-week slide since January 2016 as shares fell from Sydney to Mumbai. Earlier, the S&P 500 Index fell more than 1 percent and the Nasdaq 100’s drop topped 2 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite remained near a four-year low. The yuan stabilized after earlier losses, and the dollar held overnight gains.

China’s recent rout spurred the most explicit comments by policy makers to date, with the central bank and other regulators moving to assure that liquidity risks are being addressed. Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said China will allow insurance companies to introduce products designed to ease liquidity pressures caused by share pledging of listed companies. The comments came as data showed China’s economy expanded at 6.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, just shy of the 6.6 percent average forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

Meantime, earnings misses from several U.S. industrial firms and a Bank of America downgrade of the housing sector added to worries that higher interest rates and the trade war are hitting profits. Weak results from Germany’s SAP and Taiwan Semiconductor dragged American tech indexes lower. Also hurting the appetite for risk was Italy’s debt crisis. The spread between Italian and German bond yields hit the highest level since 2013 as European Union officials questioned the country’s budget plan.

Elsewhere, oil traded near the lowest level in almost a month after expanding American stockpiles overshadowed tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of a prominent kingdom critic.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Japan’s Topix Index fell 1.1 percent as of 1:05 p.m. in Tokyo.
• The Shanghai Composite was little changed after sliding as much as 1.5 percent at the open.
• South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2 percent.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2 percent.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.3 percent.
• S&P 500 futures added 0.2 percent after the underlying gauge fell 1.4 percent Thursday.

Currencies

• The Japanese yen fell 0.2 percent to 112.40 per dollar after climbing 0.4 percent.
• The offshore yuan was flat at 6.9382 per dollar.
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed Friday, trading near the strongest since mid-2017 after gains earlier in the week.
• The euro traded at $1.1458.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 3.18 percent after approaching fresh seven-year highs earlier this week.
• Australian 10-year bond yields fell about five basis points to 2.68 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1 percent to $68.74 a barrel.
• Gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,227.11 an ounce

Source: Bloomberg

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