Off Worst Levels In Asia

Major Asia-Pac equity indices are 0.2% to 0.7% softer at writing, rising from session lows following news of US Secretary of State Blinken agreeing to meet Russian FM Lavrov next week. Most Asia-Pac equity indices had opened sharply lower on a strong negative lead from Wall St. owing to heightened Russia-Ukraine tensions during Thursday’s session (with the aforementioned Blinken-Lavrov meeting subsequently unwinding some of the geopolitical risk priced into markets).

• While the CSI300 sits 0.3% lower, its real estate sub-index notched notable gains following reports of state-run banks in the city of Heze cutting mortgage down payments for some home buyers - in a move seemingly aimed at boosting demand in the property space. Real estate developers in Hong Kong also benefited from the news, with the Hang Seng Properties Index adding 0.7% at typing.
• High-beta Chinese tech struggled, with the tech-heavy ChiNext and STAR50 sitting 1.0% and 0.6% worse off, respectively.
• U.S. e-mini equity index futures turned bid on the Blinken-Lavrov meeting news, dealing 0.7%-0.8% higher heading into the European session. Note that the 3 major e-mini contracts struggled, or indeed failed, to print below their respective Thursday troughs in overnight trade.