SYDNEY- Asian stocks traded sideways on Tuesday, as concerns over the spread of the Delta variant and expectations of earlier tapering by the Federal Reserve offset strong corporate earnings, while gold and oil recovered after their sharp falls.
Markets were also cautious ahead of US inflation numbers on Wednesday, which coming soon after strong jobs data, could fuel more speculation about the Fed’s bond-purchase taper.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.17 percent higher in mid afternoon after trading most of the day in slight red territory, with China’s blue chip index CSI300 also recovering to be 0.43 percent higher, while South Korea’s KOSPI index was 0.64 percent weaker.
Other markets were set to open lower with S&P 500 futures dipping 0.12 percent, Euro STOXX 50 futures down 0.01 percent and FTSE futures off 0.15 percent.
“Equities have pretty much tracked sideways, but commodities are slightly weak and that’s partly reflecting COVID-19 uncertainty because cases seem to be increasing and background concerns of a slowdown in China,” said TD Securities Asia-Pacific strategist Prashant Newnaha.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was 0.78 percent higher, while the Shanghai Composite traded 0.42 percent higher, and Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.22 percent.
Gold prices also recovered, after touching a four-month low on Monday as strong US jobs data bolstered expectations of an early tapering of the Federal Reserve’s economic support measures.
Officials also said inflation was at a level that could satisfy one leg of a key test for the beginning of interest rate hikes.
