(Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Asia looked set to kick off the week on a cautious note after U.S. equities retreated Friday amid trade-war concerns.
Futures pointed to a lower start in Hong Kong and Australia, though trading may be limited in much of the Asia-Pacific region with markets shut on Monday in Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. The yen edged higher, extending moves seen at the end of last week as President Donald Trump said that planned trade talks with China could be called off.
A volatile start to August for global markets has seen bond traders lift expectations for central-bank easing. The People’s Bank of China late Friday called for a “rational” view on current headwinds, and former central bankers warned that the confrontation with the U.S. is deepening. Trump said Friday that it would be “fine” if U.S.-China negotiations planned for next month were called off, adding that he’s “not ready to make a deal.”
“We remain cautious, as we believe that a number of challenges remain,” said Andrew Sheets, chief cross asset strategist at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in London. “Among them, the risk that high policy expectations make disappointment more likely, and that even if those aggressive expectations are met, easing isn’t expected to improve growth or inflation materially.”
Here are some key events coming up:
- Companies releasing results include Barrick Gold, China’s Tencent, JD.com and Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), Brazilian utility Eletrobras, Prudential (LON:PRU), Australia’s Telstra, giant retailer Walmart (NYSE:WMT), Nvidia, Swisscom and the Danish brewer Carlsberg (CSE:CARLa).
- The U.S. consumer price index, out Tuesday, probably picked up to a 1.7% annual pace in July, according to economist estimates. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, are seen rising 2.1%, about in line with most readings this year.
- Wednesday brings data on China retail sales, industrial production and the jobless rate.
- Thursday sees the release of U.S. jobless claims, industrial production and retail sales. data.
Stocks
- The S&P 500 Index fell 0.7% on Friday.
- Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.2%.
- Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.3%.
- The yen rose 0.1% to 105.59 per dollar.
- The offshore yuan dipped 0.1% to 7.1026 per dollar.
- The euro was flat at $1.1200.
- Britain’s pound added 0.1% to $1.2048.
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries ended last week at 1.74%, up two basis points.
- Gold slipped 0.3% to $1,496.95 an ounce.
- West Texas crude gained 3.7% to $54.50 a barrel.