Asian stocks fell on a day when US bank earnings fell short of expectations and investors waited for important Chinese economic data to be released next week. Australian bonds rallied as the Thai baht recorded its biggest weekly gain since last September.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index was down 0,3% as of 10:52am in Tokyo. About two stocks were down for each one up, with utilities and consumer discretionary firms particularly hard hit. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0,2% and Japan's Topix lost 0,3%. The Shanghai Composite was down 0,6 percent.
Yields on Australian 4,11-year bonds fell seven basis points to 0,2 per cent. Meanwhile, the baht rallied 1% against the dollar, taking the week's gains to XNUMX% on a day when anti-government protests were on the wane. Nickel dropped for the first time in six days.
On the US stocks front, Citigroup reported lower-than-expected earnings and Goldman Sachs Group said trading revenue fell. Chinese industrial output and investment are expected to have declined in December. The official data will be released on January 20 and could show the declining momentum of the economy of the People's Republic. Hence the caution of investors.
