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( While oil prices have rallied for weeks, analyst Stephen Innes warned demand will not bounce back until there is a return of air travel between key economic regions . ©AFP/File CHARLY TRIBALLEAU )

Asian equities were mixed Tuesday as long-running optimism over the reopening of economies was offset by profit-taking following a week-long rally across markets.

Sydney and Hong Kong were the standout performers, with traders picking up the baton from Wall Street where the Nasdaq ended at a record high and the S&P 500 wiped out all its losses for the year.

However, there were warnings that the gains — which have seen markets soar from their March trough thanks to the lockdown easing and massive stimulus — may have gone too far, and could be derailed by any number of issues.

Still, for now, the mood is upbeat with governments slowly removing restrictions that were put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19 but strangled economies and are widely expected to have caused a world recession.

In early trade, Hong Kong was up more than one percent, while Sydney jumped more than two percent as investors there returned from an extended weekend break to play catch-up with Monday’s regional advance.

Shanghai gained 0.4 percent and Taipei added 0.1 percent, while Jakarta jumped 0.9 percent.

But profit-taking dragged Tokyo 0.6 percent lower by lunch, while Seoul dipped 0.2 percent with geopolitical concerns re-emerging after North Korea said it was severing all official communication links with the South.

Wellington slipped 1.7 percent after racking up gains of more than three percent on Monday, while Manila was off 0.4 percent.

– The long recovery –

While traders continue to buy into world markets on hopes the economy will bounce back, analysts urged some caution.

“The good news is that this shows central banks’ effort to stabilise the market have worked,” Tai Hui, at JP Morgan Asset Management, said in a note.

“The more worrying news is that global economic activity is far from where we were before the pandemic. The current risk rally is driven by investors’ belief that the worst of this recession is behind us, which we agree with.”

But he warned: “The road to full recovery is long and will require medical solutions including a widely distributed vaccine or efficient and accurate testing. The threat of a second wave of infections has not been eliminated.”

He added that there were also risks of renewal of the China-US trade war as well as the impact of mass unemployment and bankruptcies. 

Oil markets remain supported by expectations for a pick-up in demand as lockdowns are eased, as well as huge output cuts by leading producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

However, prices took a knock Monday after Riyadh said it would not continue beyond this month with additional, voluntary output reductions it had been implementing alongside the main production deal.

AxiCorp’s Stephen Innes suggested the recent run-up in crude over the past few weeks could begin to plateau.

“While equity markets are looking ahead to a recovery in corporate profits in 2021, energy markets do not have the luxury to be as forward-looking,” he said in a commentary.

“Oil demand remains weak in the US, and big states that drive the US economy need to open with a driving boom. But ultimately, without the return of travel between the world’s three largest regions –- the US, the EU, and China -– demand will be slow to pick up.”

In Hong Kong, trading in Cathay Pacific — and its two biggest shareholders Air China and Swire — was suspended ahead of an expected announcement. Neither Cathay nor Swire gave a reason for the suspension. 

– Key figures at 0310 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 23,030.77 (break)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 1.4 percent at 25,113.15

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 2,948.84

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $38.65 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.1 percent at $41.25

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1288 from $1.1292 at 2100 GMT

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 108.17 yen from 108.45 yen

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2716 from $1.2723 

Euro/pound: UP at 88.77 pence from 88.73 pence

New York – Dow: UP 1.7 percent at 27,572.44 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,472.59 (close)

(AFP)

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.