Asian stocks skid as China's NPC disappoints, bitcoin nears record
economictimes.indiatimes.comstocks stumbled on Tuesday, dragging Asian peers with them, as investors showed their disappointment at Beijing's plans to support the economy as its week-long annual session of parliament, the National People's Congress, got underway.
Equities around the rest of the region were also on the back foot following a retreat from record highs on Wall Street overnight on signs the U.S. Federal Reserve is in no hurry to cut interest rates. U.S. stock futures also pointed lower.
Bitcoin continued its ascent to a fresh two-year peak of $68,650.87 that put it within spitting distance of an all-time high. Gold marked a record closing high of $2,114.99 on Monday and continued to hover at that level in the latest session.
Japan's Nikkei slid 0.59% after reaching a fresh peak on Monday, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.4%.
Chinese blue chips lost 0.2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slumped 1.3%.
«China is aiming to lower their fiscal budget to 3% GDP, from a gap of around 3.8% in 2023, suggesting large fiscal stimulus is off the table for now,» said James Kniveton, senior corporate FX dealer at Convera.
«Stability is still the overriding factor in Chinese policy making and the announcements so far seem to conform to that philosophy.»
Meanwhile, alternative assets like cryptocurrencies and bullion have been supported and equities sold following hawkish comments from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic that there is no urgency to cut interest rates amid risks inflation stays above the
