Stocks in Asia Decline, Euro Pushes Higher: Markets Wrap

Bloomberg.com — Asian stocks dropped as investors weighed continuing concerns in Indonesia and India and strength in commodity prices. The euro climbed on reports the Italian government trimmed its budget-deficit plans.

The regional Asia Pacific share index fell for a third day, with Japan leading declines. The rupiah and the rupee both remained under pressure on surging oil prices. The Australian dollar fell briefly as weak building data fanned concerns of a slowdown. Italian bonds may recover from four days of selling after the government signaled it’s bowing to pressure from the European Union to trim a budget-deficit target. Crude oil futures steadied in New York above $75 a barrel, near the highest level in almost four years.

Italian assets remain volatile as the country’s budget confrontation with the EU raised the risk of a debt crisis. The euro rose after the Corriere della Sera reported Italy’s draft budget plan will pledge to cut the deficit to 2 percent in 2021, reversing the government’s initial proposal. The yield on 10-year Italian government bonds touched the highest level in more than four years Tuesday. In the U.S., retailers slipped after Amazon.com raised the minimum wage for all its employees, with the S&P 500 Index edging lower.

Investors remain on edge this week with the market impact of European politics and emerging market strains still high on the agenda. A close call between a U.S. and a Chinese warship in the disputed South China Sea in recent days added to tensions between two countries already embroiled in an escalating trade war. Meanwhile, Treasury yields remained near the top of the recent range as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell welcomed increases in Americans’ wages while expressing confidence that low unemployment won’t spur a takeoff in prices that would force him to hike interest rates more aggressively.

Elsewhere, the pound traded near three-week lows after Boris Johnson won cheers at the U.K. Conservative Party’s annual conference with an attack on Theresa May’s Brexit plan, but stopped short of calling for her to be removed as prime minister. In India, focus is back on the country’s financial sector after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government took control of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd., promising to end the group’s string of defaults.