Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.4% to 8,349.00
  • Dow Average little changed at 44,554.40
  • Aussie little changed at 0.6347 per US$
  • US 10-year yield fell 1.6bps to 4.5346%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield rose 0.9 bps to 3.94%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield rose 1.9 bps to 4.52%
  • Gold spot down 0.1% to $2,931.79
  • Brent futures up 0.3% to $76.05/bbl

Economic Events

  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$2 Billion 91-Day Bills
  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 140-Day Bills
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Part Time Employment Change, prior 80,000
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Full Time Employment Change, prior -23,700
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Employment Change, est. 20,000, prior 56,300
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Participation Rate, est. 67.1%, prior 67.1%
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Unemployment Rate, est. 4.1%, prior 4.0%

Shares in Asia were set for declines Thursday following muted moves on Wall Street after Federal Reserve meeting minutes signaled that it’s in no rush to cut interest rates.

Equity index futures for Japan, Hong Kong and Australia all fell. The S&P 500 climbed 0.2% on Wednesday to set a new high, with defensive sectors outperforming in a sign of investor caution. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 ended the session little changed.

Treasuries advanced as the US 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.53% Wednesday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%. The yen rallied against the greenback to trade around 151 per dollar.

The Fed minutes showed officials in January expressed a readiness to hold interest rates steady amid stubborn inflation and economic-policy uncertainty. Officials also revealed pausing or slowing the balance-sheet runoff — a process known as quantitative tightening, or QT, until the government’s debt-ceiling drama is resolved.

“They will sit and wait before cutting again,” said Peter Boockvar, author of The Boock Report. “I say ‘cut’ because it still seems like they have an easing bias. The Fed also commented on the balance sheet. This could also be a reason why yields dipped a bit.”

The muted day in US stocks also reflected the threat of further US tariffs, with President Donald Trump floating levies on cars, chips and drug imports.

In Asia, data set for release Thursday includes export orders for Taiwan, inflation for Hong Kong and China one-year and five-year loan prime rates. Separate one-year medium-term lending facility data for China may be released anytime through February 25.

The latest China data will come after the country recorded the weakest start for inbound investment in four years, with just over $13 billion in new spending by foreign firms in the country in January.

Investors will also be focused on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which faces a key test in its earnings presentation Thursday after a DeepSeek-sparked rally added more than $110 billion to its market value.

Elsewhere in the region, Rio Tinto Group became the latest mining major to post a slide in annual profit as the industry grapples with weaker demand from its top customer China.

In US trading Wednesday, quantum-computing shares jumped on Microsoft Corp.’s new chip. Homebuilders got hit after results from Toll Brothers Inc. and key construction data indicated the residential real estate market may be in store for more turbulence.

US economic data released Wednesday showed housing starts slowed in January as builders pulled back on single- and multifamily home construction amid growing worries over mortgage rates and unsold homes.

Oil prices rose Wednesday against the backdrop of uncertainties about crude supplies from Russia, Kazakhstan and OPEC+. Meanwhile, gold held below a all-time high as mounting geopolitical tension underscored the metal’s haven appeal.