Lower In Asia As Growth Worry Rises; China Defeats COVID Wave (Again)

Virtually all Asia-Pac equity indices are lower at typing, tracking a negative performance from Wall St. High-beta equities across the region largely underperformed, with a decline in major crude benchmarks during the session proving unable to lift wider worry re: stagflation.

• The Hang Seng Index leads losses amongst regional peers, trading 1.6% lower and operating around session lows at typing. Nearly all constituents are in the red, with China-based tech names such as Meituan and Tencent again leading losses. The Hang Seng Tech is similarly 1.7% worse off at writing, tracking a 1.6% decline in the NASDAQ Golden Dragon China Index in Wednesday’s NY session.
• The Chinese CSI300 has fared a little better, sitting a little below neutral levels at typing. Gains in Chinese tech names (as seen in the ChiNext and STAR50 dealing 0.7% and 1.9% higher respectively) were largely neutralised by losses in high-valuation consumer staples and healthcare stocks for another day. Industrials outperformed as well, boosted by Chinese authorities declaring victory over Shanghai’s COVID outbreak, with new daily infections nationwide falling to 61 on Wednesday (vs. 68 the day before).
• The ASX200 deals 1.0% softer at writing, with gains in energy and utility names countered by weakness in technology and healthcare stocks. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index sits 2.0% worse off at typing, led by losses in large-caps REA Group, Xero Ltd, and Block Inc (-6.4%), with the latter tracking a large sell-off in the cryptocurrency space overnight.
• U.S. e-mini equity index futures are either side of neutral, trading a little above their respective troughs made on Wednesday at typing.