Talking Points:
- Most Asian bourses were in the red as Tuesday’s session wound down
- Tech stocks were suffering again, with only the Kospi higher
- The Australian Dollar gained before the RBA left rates alone, but struggled to go any higher
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Asian shares were subdued once again Tuesday as investors continued to rotate out of the tech sector, with half an eye on prospective US tax cuts.
After strong rises this year, tech is seeing cash taken off the table in favour of sectors thought more likely to benefit from a new US tax regime, such as retailers and banks.That saw the Nikkei 225 end the day down 0.37%. There were losses of similar magnitude for most Asia Pacific indexes with only the Kospi managing to buck the day’s gloomy trend.
The Australian Dollar got an initial boost from its own perky retail sales numbers and from Chinese data underlining a robust November economic performance in November. However it struggled to improve on its gains after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates alone. That had been expected but the RBA made no comment on the current, rather distant futures-market pricing of an interest rate hike which doesn’t pencil such action in until early 2019. However it did seem rather less concerned about depressed inflationar pressures.
The US Dollar was slightly easier overall although it nudged up a little against the Japanese Yen. Investors are reportedly awaiting the next chapter of the US tax-reform sage following last weekend’s passage of one bill through the Senate.
Gold prices were steady through the Asian session while crude oil prices slipped back following Monday’s news of a US stock build-up.
The rest of the session offer Purchasing Managers Index data from the UK and the similar release out of the US from the Institute for Supply Management.
--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research
Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX
