By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mixed on Friday morning, with a rally in Chinese shares in the U.S. cooling. Investors continue digesting mixed signals on peace talks to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.28% by 10:36 PM ET (2:36 AM GMT), with the Bank of Japan handing down its monetary policy earlier in the day. Data also showed that the national core consumer price index (CPI) grew 0.6% year-on-year in February 2022. The national CPI grew 0.9% year-on-year and 0.4% month-on-month.
South Korea’s KOSPI inched down 0.02% while in Australia, the ASX 200 was up 0.32%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 1.7%.
China’s Shanghai Composite inched up 0.02% while the Shenzhen Component fell 0.64%. U.S.-traded Chinese shares eased a historic rally as investors await follow-up action from the government on its vow to stabilize markets.
The ceasefire talks to resolve conflict stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 are also on investors’ radars. However, Russia has cast doubt on the talks’ progress and the Pentagon warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin may threaten to use nuclear weapons if the conflict drags on.
Global shares have rallied in recent days and are set for their best week since November 2020. This suggests that some of the worst fears about the inflationary commodity shock and the conflict in Ukraine are easing.
However, continued fighting and tightening Federal Reserve monetary policy could mean more cross-asset swings ahead.
“I don’t necessarily expect the rest of the year to be that easy,” RBC Capital Markets LLC head of U.S. equity strategy Lori Calvasina told Bloomberg.
“Volatility is likely to stay elevated for quite some time” even as sentiment gauges “have been a screaming buy in some respects for quite some time.”
U.S. President Joe Biden will discuss the situation in Ukraine with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later in the day. Biden will warn of “costs” if China backs Russia, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to end Russia’s Most Favored Nation status, leading the way to sharply higher tariffs on Russian goods. S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Ratings also slashed Russia’s credit score to CC, saying its debt is “highly vulnerable to nonpayment.”
However, JPMorgan Chase & Co. processed funds for interest payments due on Russian government dollar bonds, which eased fears of a default.
U.S. data showed that building permits showed a reading of 1.859 million while contracting 1.9% month-on-month in February. The reading for housing starts was 1.769 million, while it grew 6.8% month-on-month.
The data also showed that industrial production grew 7.45% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month. This supported U.S. Federal Chairman Jerome Powell’s view that the economy can withstand monetary tightening.
Investors are now bracing for the quarterly triple witching event later in the day, where roughly $3.5 trillion of single-stock and index-level options are set to expire, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.