Asian Stocks Extend Losses as US Futures Recover

Asian stocks fell for a fifth day after US shares declined in an echo of the prior session as concern over American regional banks outweighed better-than-expected technology earnings, Bloomberg reported.

The drop places a gauge of Asia Pacific equities on course for its longest run of daily losses this year, as shares fell in Australia and fluctuated in Japan and China.

Futures contracts for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both edged up in Asia after results from Meta Platforms Inc. beat analyst estimates, pushing its shares 11% higher in after-hours trading. Upbeat earnings from Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. this week boosted the Nasdaq 100 Index Wednesday.

In Asia, Samsung Electronics Co. shares overcame an early decline after posting a record quarterly loss in its chip division but indicating a recovery later this year. Nomura Holdings Inc. stock headed for its worst day in more than two years after reporting a slump in profits. Earnings reports due later Thursday include electric-car maker BYD Co., China Life Insurance Co. and Fujitsu Ltd.

China’s economic rebound is likely to flow through to corporate profits in the months ahead, said Sylvia Sheng, multi-asset strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management in Hong Kong.

“We do think that should be coming through given how strong the recovery momentum has been for the first quarter,” she said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

Earnings reports from Europe early Thursday included a handful of bright spots. STMicroelectronics NV generated more revenue than expected, and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenta SA topped net income forecasts.

The yen stayed in a narrow range as the Bank of Japan began a two-day policy meeting, the first with Kazuo Ueda as governor. The dollar weakened versus most of its Group-of-10 peers. The New Zealand dollar rallied as the Treasury department predicted weather events earlier in the year would boost inflation.

Treasuries edged up in Asia as investors waited for US GDP and jobless claims to gauge the strength of the US economy. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the core PCE deflator, is due Friday.

The potential for a tightening of credit conditions linked to the banking turmoil may prompt the Fed to adjust the pace of its interest-rate increases, Evercore ISI’s head of central bank strategy Krishna Guha wrote in a note, citing issues at First Republic Bank. The US regional lender faces potential curbs on borrowing from the Fed.

“We cannot rule out the possibility developments around First Republic could unfold in a manner that would lead the FOMC to skip May, while signaling a hike in June,” Guha said.

Elsewhere in markets, oil inched higher after a Wednesday fall, gold traded near the highest level in a week and Bitcoin resumed an advance.