Asian markets were mixed Tuesday as
investors scrabbled to recover from the previous day’s rout but fears over
the impact of China’s Covid-induced lockdowns and the Federal Reserve’s plan
to hike interest rates quickly continue to drag on sentiment.

The Omicron flare-up across China has led authorities to impose strict
containment measures in its biggest cities, shutting off millions of people
and threatening to deal a hammer blow to the world’s number two economy.

While Shanghai — the largest city — has been in lockdown for weeks,
Beijing has launched mass testing for nearly all its 21 million residents
with many in the capital now fearing the same fate as the financial hub.

The measures have dealt a severe blow to the economy, leading to concerns
about the likely knock-on effects for the rest of the world owing to its
reliance on goods from China.

The China crisis comes as traders grapple with a hawkish Fed, which is
struggling to control inflation, which is sitting at a more than 40-year
high.

“For the time being, the spectre of more severe restrictions in China is
not being traded from the inflationary side, but rather as a detriment to the
global recovery and as a demand-negative shock,” said BMO Capital Markets
strategists Benjamin Jeffery and Ian Lyngen.

They added that they were “less convinced that the situation will be
enough to materially shift” the Fed’s plans to aggressively hike interest
rates to tame runaway inflation. US central bank policymakers have said they
are keen to lift rates several times this year to get a grip on prices, with
boss Jerome Powell indicating a half-point rise next month followed by more
before January.

The Fed and China issues are being compounded by the war in Ukraine and
all the uncertainty that has brought, while investors are nervously awaiting
results and forecasts from the world’s biggest companies, hoping for an idea
about the impact on their bottom lines.

While Asia suffered a torrid day Monday, Wall Street managed to end on a
positive note, helped by news of Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter.

But buying remained weak in Asia again Tuesday.

Hong Kong and Shanghai edged up but made only small dents in the massive
losses suffered the day before.

Tokyo, Seoul and Jakarta also ticked higher, though Sydney, Singapore,
Wellington, Taipei and Manila fell.

Crude prices were slightly higher but were unable to recover fully from
the hefty drop seen Monday caused by concerns about demand from China.

“Given Omicron’s less-lethal footprint, traders had expected some easing
of lockdowns before the Golden Week” holiday next week, said Stephen Innes at
SPI Asset Management.

“And with this unlikely to happen, traders were then forced to revalue oil
prices lower on a more protracted consumption slump than expected.”

– Key figures at 0230 GMT –

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 26,726.65 (break)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 20,055.84

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 2,932.90

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.5 percent at $102.81 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $98.88 per barrel

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0731 from $1.0716 late on Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2758 from $1.2744

Euro/pound: UP at 84.11 pence from 84.05 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 127.44 yen from 128.15 yen

New York – Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 34,049.46 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.9 percent at 7,380.54 (close)