Stocks Struggle for Momentum Ahead of US Eco Data: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks traded within tight ranges on Wednesday, mirroring similar moves on Wall Street as investors remained cautious ahead of a slew of US economic data.

MSCI Inc.’s gauge of regional shares was little changed after rising 0.3% earlier. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes edged higher by 0.2% each after the US benchmark capped its sixth advance in seven trading days on Tuesday. Bitcoin extended its rebound after surging back above $91,000 in the previous session.

The muted moves in equities highlighted that sentiment remains fragile ahead of this month’s rate decisions by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. The US is due to release ADP’s report on private sector employment for November as well as the import price index and industrial production data for September later on Wednesday. The long-delayed release of the September PCE index — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — is due Friday.

“The sky certainly isn’t clear enough for a broad-based rally,” said Hebe Chen, an analyst at Vantage Markets in Melbourne. “The upcoming, decision-shaping US PCE print and a heavy slate of central bank meetings are keeping traders on edge. With so many pivotal signals still ahead, investors are favoring a more conservative stance rather than chasing risk at this stage.”

As traders awaited the last few economic reports before next week’s Fed decision, President Donald Trump said he plans to announce his selection to lead the central bank in early 2026. Trump has pressured the Fed for months to lower interest rates, and naming a successor to Jerome Powell — whose term as Chair expires in May — would give the president his biggest chance yet to reshape the institution.

The US central bank has rarely been so divided over its long-term plan for rates. After cutting them by more than a percentage point, Fed officials are now wondering where to stop – and finding there’s more disagreement than ever.

In the past year or so, prescriptions for where rates should end up have diverged by the most since at least 2012, when US central bankers started publishing their estimates. That’s feeding into an unusually public split over whether to deliver another cut next week, and what comes after that.

“US data over the next couple of days could put the highly anticipated Fed rate expectations in doubt,” said Nick Twidale, chief analyst at AT Global Markets in Sydney. “With expectations now heavily skewed to the dovish side, the risk for markets is that any upside surprise in data could trigger a near-term correction.”

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% on Wednesday, heading for a second day of declines. Ten-year treasury yields were steady.

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar turned volatile after data showed the economy grew at a surprisingly softer pace last quarter, suggesting markets may have been premature in pricing interest-rate hikes. The currency erased an early advance following the data, but bounced back again.

In commodities, oil held a decline as traders weighed the outlook for an end to the war in Ukraine following high-level talks between the US and Russia, while attacks on Moscow’s energy assets continued. The Kremlin said Vladimir Putin held “very useful” discussions with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner though the sides failed to agree on a plan to end the war. Gold and silver prices rose.

Corporate News

UltraGreen.ai’s shares jumped as much as 12% in their trading debut Wednesday after an initial public offering that was the biggest in Singapore since 2017 outside real estate investment trusts. Medical supply company Medline Inc. is set to begin formal marketing for its initial public offering as soon as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, in what’s expected to be the biggest US listing this year. Taiwanese prosecutors charged Tokyo Electron Ltd. for failing to prevent staff from allegedly stealing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. trade secrets, escalating a dispute involving two Asian linchpins of a chip industry increasingly vital to national and economic security. Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud unit raced to get the latest version of its artificial intelligence chip to market, renewing efforts to sell hardware capable of rivaling products from Nvidia Corp. and Google. Comcast Corp. is looking to merge its NBCUniversal division with Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Marvell Technology Inc. announced plans to acquire startup Celestial AI for at least $3.25 billion, part of a push to capture more of the runaway spending on artificial intelligence computing. Tesla Inc.’s China factory shipments rose for only the third time this year amid a broader global downturn in sales for the Elon Musk-run company. CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. raised its fiscal year 2026 guidance, signaling resilient demand for the company’s expanding portfolio of artificial intelligence-enabled cybersecurity products. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% as of 11:55 a.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix was little changed Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1% The Shanghai Composite was little changed Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.2% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1638 The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 155.71 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0614 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 1.3% to $92,756.32 Ether rose 1.1% to $3,031.39 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.07% Australia’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.62% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $58.49 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.5% to $4,225.85 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Winnie Hsu.

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