HONG KONG, China — Asian equities were mixed on Wednesday following yet another record day in New York fueled by data that boosted US interest rate cut hopes, with expectations tempered by cautious comments from Federal Reserve officials.
In Europe, London fell at the open even after data showed UK inflation had eased to the Bank of England’s 2 percent target.
The below-forecast May US retail sales figures pointed to signs of fatigue among American consumers — a crucial driver of growth — suggesting the world’s number one economy was slowing and giving the central bank room to ease monetary policy.
The reading helped to slightly offset a surprisingly large jump in US job creation that pointed to a still-resilient labor market despite a long-running campaign of rate hikes and stubbornly high inflation.
READ: US retail sales rose a meager 0.1% in May from April
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq clocked up more records, driven again by a surge in demand for Big Tech, with chip giant Nvidia overtaking Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
Nvidia, a titan in the artificial intelligence sector, hit a market capitalization of $3.349 trillion after cruising nearly 3,500 percent higher in the past five years. And one analyst predicted it could even hit $5 trillion in the coming year, according to Bloomberg News.
Market-friendly measures
Shares in Hong Kong piled on nearly 3 percent after a recent run of weakness, with analysts saying investors were hopeful for fresh market-friendly measures to be announced at a forum in China being attended by securities regulator chief Wu Qing and central bank boss Pan Gongsheng.
“There’s anticipation of positive policies and expectations of reforms for banks regarding shareholder returns. I suspect the policies could be more relevant for Hong Kong-listed shares,” said Billy Leung, at Global X ETFs.
Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Mumbai, Jakarta, and Taipei also rose but Shanghai, Sydney, Manila, Bangkok, and Wellington edged down.
READ: UK inflation slows to central bank’s 2% target
London opened slightly lower. Investors were unfazed by news that inflation had hit 2 percent in May, in line with expectations. The pound was barely moved.
Paris and Frankfurt were also down.
US consumer behavior
“The (retail sales) data clearly reflects a shift in US consumer behavior, which is becoming more conservative, feeling the pinch from higher interest rates, curbing wage increases, and a depletion of savings,” said Rodrigo Catril of National Australia Bank.
“Importantly, too, we expect more of the same over coming quarters.”
The Fed’s so-called “dot plot” guidance to interest rates showed officials see just one cut before January, down from three predicted in March, and while some observers are optimistic for two, or even three, decision-makers remain reluctant.
On Tuesday, Fed governor Adriana Kugler said the policy was “sufficiently restrictive to help cool the economy and bring inflation back toward 2 percent without a sharp contraction in economic activity or a significant deterioration of the labor market”.
And St. Louis Fed boss Alberto Musalem added that he needed to see a “period of favorable inflation, moderating demand and expanding supply” before he could consider easing.
“These conditions could take months, and more likely quarters to play out,” he warned.