Asian stocks pared losses, with volatility in Japanese shares reaching the highest in more than two years, as a weakening yen boosted the earnings outlook for exporters.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.1 percent to 136.74 as of 10:32 a.m. in Hong Kong, with about five stocks rising for every four that fell. The gauge retreated the past five days amid speculation the Federal Reserve will reduce its bond purchases as the U.S. economy improves and China manufacturing data missed estimates.
“There are still a lot of international investors that haven’t positioned themselves in Japan,” Adrian Mowat, Hong Kong-based chief Asia and emerging-market strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said in a Bloomberg TV interview with Susan Li. “I would be advising moving into consumer-related stocks. We are going to see on-going earnings revisions. Perhaps this is a sufficient pullback” to buy Japanese shares.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.3 percent. Markets in the U.S. and the U.K. will reopen today after a holiday.
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Source: Bloomberg
