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Asia stocks signal at mixed open ahead of earnings

SYDNEY — Stocks futures across Asia pointed to a mixed open ahead of a busy week for earnings reports in Japan, China and the United States. The euro was near its lowest since March while the US dollar extended gains against the British pound and the yen.

Photo: Reuters

Photo: Reuters

SYDNEY — Stocks futures across Asia pointed to a mixed open ahead of a busy week for earnings reports in Japan, China and the United States. The euro was near its lowest since March while the US dollar extended gains against the British pound and the yen.

Equity-index contracts in Hong Kong declined with those in Australia, while Japan was little changed and futures in South Korea rose in most recent trading. The pound and the yen both retreated 0.1 per cent against the dollar. Oil held above US$50 a barrel as Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, balked at joining efforts to trim output to prop up prices.

“Earnings is the key metric for investors,” said Mr Matthew Sherwood, head of investment strategy in Sydney at Perpetual, which manages about US$21 billion. “Meanwhile, there are a number of important macro events which are holding the market back, including the US election early next month and key Fed and ECB meetings in December.”

More than than 80 per cent of the S&P 500 Index’s companies that have released third-quarter results so far beat expectations, while analysts still forecast a contraction in profits. Alphabet, Amazon.com, Exxon Mobil and Coca-Cola are all set to report this week.

The dollar’s advance has been in the spotlight as it reflects bets that US monetary policy will diverge from stimulus measures in Europe and Asia. There’s a more than 67 per cent chance the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December, futures show.

The euro was at US$1.0883, after reaching US$1.0859 on Friday (Oct 21), the weakest since March 10. The pound lost 0.1 per cent to US$1.2225, while the yen slid by a similar amount to 103.93 per US dollar.

West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.4 per cent to US$50.67 a barrel, after advancing 0.8 per cent on Friday.

Iraq should be exempted from cutting oil production because it’s embroiled in a war with Islamic militants, Oil Minister Jabber Al-Luaibi said on Sunday at a news conference in Baghdad. The country currently produces more than 4.7 million barrels a day it pumped in September, and Iraq’s output could rise higher still as the government urges international companies to boost production at its fields, he said.

The minister disputed Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) figures that peg Iraqi output at less than 4.2 million barrels daily. BLOOMBERG

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