Asian stocks fall for 4th day as higher yields bite, all eyes on Nvidia results

SYDNEY: Asian stocks fell for a fourth straight session on Wednesday as war-driven ​inflation fears hammered bonds, while investors awaited earnings from Nvidia to see whether the world’s most valuable ‌company might help markets navigate higher borrowing costs.

The sell-off in global bond markets persisted overnight as investors ramped up bets that the Federal Reserve may need to increase interest rates this year. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hit a 16-month high of 4.687% overnight, while the 30-year yield climbed to ​5.198%, levels not seen since 2007.

Oil prices slipped a little on Wednesday, with Brent crude futures off 0.2%, but ​stayed above $110 a barrel at $111.07. The Strait of Hormuz remained effectively closed and US President Donald ⁠Trump said he might need to strike Iran again a day after he said he was postponing an imminent attack to ​allow for more negotiations with Tehran.

In Beijing, Chinese leader Xi Jinping will host his “old friend” Russian President Vladimir Putin, less than a ​week after Trump’s high-profile visit.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7% on Wednesday, while Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.6%. South Korea’s KOSPI was down 2%.

Chinese blue-chips slipped 0.4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index eased 0.7%.

Europe’s pan-region stock futures fell 0.5%. Nasdaq futures were flat while ​the S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1%.

“At this point of time, it remains my base case that we are seeing a ​corrective pullback after an absolutely phenomenal rally,” said Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG. “The US yields obviously are creating some rumbles in the market and ‌now ⁠attracting a lot of attention.

“Nvidia could come out and absolutely exceed expectations … but I don’t think so. I think the ability for Nvidia to just absolutely shoot the lights out and shock everybody like it has done, I don’t think that’s in its book of tricks anymore.”

The chipmaking giant will announce first quarter earnings after the market close on Wednesday. Expectations, as always, ​are sky-high. Revenue is projected to ​increase by almost 80% ⁠to nearly $79 billion, according to the median forecast in an LSEG survey of analysts.

Treasuries nursed losses in Asia, with the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes holding steady at 4.6713%, having ​jumped 21 basis points in the past three sessions. The 30-year yield was flat at 5.1858% ​after a 17 ⁠bps jump from last Thursday.

The dollar stood near a six-week high against its major peers. It was steady at 159.05 yen , having gained for seven straight sessions that unwound most of the intervention-driven gains on April 30 when Japanese authorities stepped into the ⁠market to ​safeguard the yen at the 160 mark.

The euro last bought $1.1594, having touched its ​lowest level since April 8 overnight. The British pound was at $1.3380, not far from the six-week low it touched earlier this week.

Gold prices slipped 0.4% to $4,463 ​an ounce, the lowest since the end of March as the U.S. dollar gained.