(Bloomberg) -- Stocks slipped across the Asia Pacific on Monday as investors continued trying to gauge when economic activity might rebound after the hit from the coronavirus.
Benchmarks in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul were lower, though moves eased following a report that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).’s main manufacturer got a green light to resume some production. That reversed declines in U.S. equity futures, which traded slightly higher as of noon in Tokyo. The Australian dollar climbed and the yuan rose past 7 per dollar offshore. Treasuries were flat, while oil traded around $50 a barrel in New York.
With cases outside of China continuing to increase, investors will be monitoring whether the rate of change kicks up a gear. Meantime, monetary authorities across emerging markets have stepped in. The People’s Bank of China moved to keep liquidity ample Monday through reverse-repurchase agreements.
“This coronavirus seems to be going on for longer, is infecting more people and the hit to growth will be longer,” Diana Mousina, an economist at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., told Bloomberg TV in Sydney. “You won’t be able to recoup all of the negative impacts in the first quarter.”
Here are some key events coming up:
- Earnings season continues with reports including: Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Softbank, Nissan, Airbus, Nestle and AIG (NYSE:AIG).
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivers his semiannual testimony in Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Thursday brings a gauge of underlying U.S. inflation, the core consumer price index. It’s expected to increase to 0.2% in January, a faster pace than in December.
- China and the U.S. on Friday lower tariffs on billions of dollars of respective imports, as part of the trade deal signed last month.
Stocks
- Japan’s Topix index dropped 0.6%. as of 12:35 p.m. in Tokyo.
- The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.4%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.7%.
- Futures on the S&P 500 were up 0.1%. The underlying gauge fell 0.5% on Friday.
- South Korea’s Kospi index retreated 0.6%.
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures slid 0.1%.
- The yen was little changed at 109.80 per dollar.
- The offshore yuan ticked up 0.2% to 6.9952 per dollar.
- The euro bought $1.0951, little changed.
- The Australian dollar gained 0.4% to 66.97 U.S. cents.
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries was steady at 1.59%.
- Australia’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 1.02%.
- West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.2% to $50.22 a barrel.
- Gold was little changed at $1,570.41 an ounce.