Stocks in Asia to Drop Amid Earnings; Bonds Rise: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Asia were poised to track losses seen in the U.S. session amid a flurry of corporate earnings and lingering concern over the Sino-American trade dispute. Treasuries climbed.Futures pointed lower for shares in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia. The S&P 500 Index lost 0.7% earlier and sentiment may be dented after Netflix Inc. tumbled following a surprise loss of U.S. customers in the second quarter. Treasury yields declined by the most in more than two weeks. Monetary policy decisions in South Korea and Indonesia will be in focus Thursday in addition to earnings from Taiwan Semiconductor and China Evergrande. Oil extended this week’s slide.With just two weeks until the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting when investors expect an interest-rate cut, the central bank’s anecdotal Beige Book report suggested the outlook was generally positive and the labor market remains tight -- but companies are still struggling to pass on higher wages and tariff-related costs to customers.While early indications are usually unreliable when it comes to corporate profits, investors have closely watched those reports for clues on the state of the world’s largest economy amid the threat of a trade war. Investors in Asia largely took comments from President Donald Trump in their stride after he said more tariffs on China are possible.“Stocks’ strong gains are finally succumbing to profit-taking,” said Alec Young, managing director of global markets research at FTSE Russell. “Earnings and guidance so far have been mixed and, given the big run-up, it’s no surprise there’s little investor tolerance for even a hint of disappointment.”Elsewhere, oil sank after a mixed U.S. government report showed a surprising drop in fuel demand last week. Bitcoin climbed, while still trading below $10,000.These are the main moves in markets:StocksFutures on the S&P 500 dipped 0.1% as of 8 a.m. in Tokyo. The underlying gauge lost 0.7% Wednesday. Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6%.Hang Seng futures earlier slid 0.5%.Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.2%.CurrenciesThe yen was at 107.96 per dollar.The offshore yuan was steady at 6.8782 per dollar.The euro bought $1.1227.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased five basis points to 2.05%.Australia’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 1.34%. CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $56.59 a barrel.Gold was little changed at $1,426.53 an ounce.\--With assistance from Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric.To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Joanna OssingerFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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