Asian stocks prepare for mixed open as dollar falls, oil: Markets wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia were set for a mixed open with Thursday’s U.S. holiday offering little guidance. The dollar fell.

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Japanese stock futures were flat, but contract gains in the previous session suggested standards will play catch-up after the holiday. Australian stock futures rose, while Hong Kong stock futures fell after Thursday’s rise.

Cash Treasuries resume trading in Asia after Wednesday’s sell-off sent yields higher. The Bloomberg Dollar Index fell on Thursday as the dollar gave up gains against most major currencies. Australia and New Zealand revenues rose.

Oil indices fell further on news that OPEC+ will hold its postponed meeting online instead of in person. The delay and disagreement among members over quotas have cast doubt on the possibility of further production cuts.

In Asia, economic data scheduled for release include inflation reports and PMI for Japan, Taiwan’s money supply and consumer prices for Malaysia. Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka is expected to cut interest rates. In the United States, manufacturing PMI data will be published later on Friday.

Investors will also focus on China’s real estate market, after measures aimed at supporting the sector boosted developer shares earlier in the week.

China may allow banks to offer unsecured short-term loans to qualified developers for the first time, according to people familiar with the matter, in the latest effort to ease the country’s real estate woes. A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of real estate developer stocks jumped 8.9% on Thursday, on track for its best week since December.

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Elsewhere, European bonds fell on Thursday after a report that Germany will suspend debt limits for a fourth straight year, raising concerns about more borrowing as the euro zone economy slows.

In corporate news, Barclays is working on plans to cut costs by up to 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) over several years, which could include cutting up to 2,000 jobs, Reuters reported.

Main events this week:

• Germany Ifo Business Climate, Friday

• US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, Friday

• Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season in the United States

• Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank speaks on Friday

Some key movements in the markets:

Stores

• Nikkei 225 futures were little changed as of 7:33 a.m. Tokyo time

• Hang Seng futures were down 0.3% as of 7:32 a.m. Tokyo time.

• S&P/ASX 200 futures rose 0.2%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.

• The euro remained unchanged at $1.0905

• There was little change in the Japanese yen at 149.54 to the dollar

• There was little change in the yuan in external transactions at 7.1489 to the dollar

• There was little change in the Australian dollar at 0.6557 US dollars

Digital currencies

• Bitcoin was little changed at $37,240.5

• Ethereum fell 0.1% to $2,066.3

Bonds

Goods

This story was produced with assistance from Bloomberg Automation.

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