Gold futures were trading near break-even along with the dollar trading flat.
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Philippine shares ended 0.58% lower, dragged down by telecom stocks, with PLDT Inc, the country’s biggest telecom company by market capitalisation, losing 2.4%. South Korea .KS11 , Australia .AXJO and Shanghai .SSEC all gained.
Biotechs (+2%) turned in a strong showing after Medivation agreed to be bought by Pfizer for $81.50/share, helping the broader health care space to a slight gain (+0.1%); utilities topped today’s leaderboard with a 0.3% advance. More flash surveys are due from Europe and the United States later in the day.
FED WATCH: Investors were looking ahead to a speech by Fed chair Janet Yellen at an annual summer gathering in Jackson Hole for indications of how policymakers view the outlook for economic growth and interest rates. Investors still doubt the stars will align for a hike anytime soon, so a hawkish tone from Yellen would challenge that equanimity.
Markets were jittery as comments by Fed officials on improving economic conditions could mean another rate hike, said Taye Shim, an analyst with Daewoo Securities Indonesia.
“But in reality, the response has been very muted”.
USA new-home sales surged to the highest level in almost eight years in July, rising 12.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That measure rose to about 50 per cent for December, from 46.2 per cent, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
“The only question is whether [Yellen will] strongly hint at a hike this year or indicate that holding off to early next year may be warranted, at which point markets would push the hike right back once again”, he added.
Oil remained under pressure after shedding 3 percent on Monday.
USA stocks have closed little changed as a drop in oil prices that weighed on the energy sector was offset with a strong showing by biotech stocks.
On Friday, the loonie snapped a almost two-week winning streak as domestic retail sales data disappointed.
Oil prices faltered as China ramped up exports of refined products, with its July diesel and gasoline exports soaring 181.8 percent and 145.2 percent, respectively, from the same month past year, putting pressure on refined product margins.
Biotech stocks received a boost from Pfizer’s PFE.N $14 billion acquisition of cancer drug maker Medivation MDVN.O , which jumped almost 20 percent.
Of the 479 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings, 71 percent have topped Wall Street’s expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data through Monday morning, August 22. The S&P 500 fell 3.15 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,183.87.
In forex markets, the dollar slipped a touch to 94.442 against a basket of currencies .DXY . The dollar strengthened 0.2 percent to $1.1279 per year and was little changed at 100.18 yen. The euro declined to $1.1304 from $1.1325.
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A measure of implied volatility known as the CBOE VIX spiked almost 15% during the day, as investors turned cautious ahead of the annual Jackson Hole Symposium of central bankers, academics and other policy experts.
