Asian equities struggled for direction on Friday as investors looked for clues on the timing of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts amid a murky U.S. inflation outlook, although the mixed geopolitical and policy prospects helped gold hit a fresh peak.

The yellow metal surged, supported by safehaven demand amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East and after a mild reading for producer price inflation kept alive hopes for Fed easing this year.

In contrast, U.S. Treasury yields stuck close to five-month highs in the wake of hotter-than-expected consumer price data mid-week that forced a paring of rate cut bets.

The dollar hung near a five-month high following a more than 1% gain this week against a basket of major peers. [FRX/]

Crude oil continued to trade north of the $90 mark. [O/R]

Markets now expect fewer than two quarter point reductions to the Fed funds rate this year, below the three cuts Fed officials had pencilled in last month, following Wednesday's CPI shock.

Fed officials said on Thursday there was no urgency to ease, with Boston Fed President Susan Collins saying the strength of the economy and uneven retreat in inflation argued against a near-term push to lower rates.

However, IG analyst Tony Sycamore remains bullish on the outlook for equities.

"Putting the pieces together at the end of a busy week, if U.S. economic growth remains resilient, inflation remains contained, and the sell-off in the bond market doesn't accelerate, the backdrop for U.S. equity markets remains supportive even without Fed rate cuts," he said.

Japan was the only real bright spot around the Asia Pacific on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.23%.

Tech shares led the way, drawing inspiration from a rally in U.S. peers overnight. Gains for the index would have been bigger but for the steep slide in shares of heavily weighted Fast Retailing, owner of the Uniqlo chain, following disappointing earnings.

Elsewhere, markets mostly suffered losses. South Korea's KOSPI slid 0.9% and Singapore's Straits Times Index was off 0.26%. Central banks in both countries opted to keep policy unchanged on Friday.

The worst losses were in Hong Kong, with the Hang Seng sliding 1.65% as property shares weighed. Mainland China's blue chips were 0.2% lower.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.67%, cutting its gains for the week to just 0.18%.

Pan-European STOXX 50 futures pointed 0.7% higher.

U.S. stocks futures were flat, following a 0.7% rise for the S&P 500 and 1.7% surge for the tech-focused Nasdaq on Thursday.

The U.S. earnings season kicks off later in the day with big banks including JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo. Mega tech reports from next week.

"Ultimately, I think investors are yearning for strong U.S. earnings," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.

"With rate cuts being priced out, it's the only factor that can provide fundamental justification for buying stocks at these levels."

Long-term U.S. Treasury yields stood at 4.5665% in Asian trading, staying close to the overnight high of 4.5930%, a level last seen on Nov. 14.

The climb in yields supported the dollar as it pushed to a 34-year high of 153.32 yen on Thursday. It last changed hands at 153.13 yen, staying weak despite fresh intervention warnings from Japan's finance minister.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against the yen, euro and four other peers, traded at 105.38, after reaching the highest since Nov. 14 at 105.53 overnight. It has jumped 1.06% this week.

The euro bought $1.07125 after dipping to a nearly two-month trough at $1.0699 on Thursday, when the European Central Bank signalled that rate cuts may come soon.

Gold climbed to a record $2,395.29, with gains this week of 2.6%.

Crude oil prices rose after Iran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli airstrike on its embassy in Syria.

Brent crude futures added 56 cents, or 0.62%, to $90.30 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 67 cents, or 0.79%, to $85.69.

Source : Economy News by Reuters / Apr 12, 2024