Gold Silver Reports (GSR) – U.S. Sell-Off Hits Asia Stocks — Equities in Japan and South Korea declined, and Australia opened lower after a four-day long weekend. The S&P 500 Index closed below its average price for the past 200 days for the first time since June 2016 with fresh presidential criticism of Amazon.com and retaliatory tariffs from China rattling investors. The Cboe Volatility Index jumped 18 percent.
After the worst three months for global stocks in more than two years, the second quarter started on the back foot as trade-tension worries festered and technology shares got slammed. The risk-off tone comes two weeks before earnings season begins, with investors still anticipating a strong showing, though watchful for signs of any slowdown in the synchronized global expansion and strains from Federal Reserve tightening.
Fanning the rout in tech, the biggest gainers of the bull run, U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his attack on Amazon, sending shares of the online retailer down the most in more than two years. Intel Corp. also had its worst day in two years, after Apple Inc. was said to be planning to use its own chips in Mac computers from 2020.
Read More : Goldman Sachs Sees Equity Volatility Spillover
Elsewhere, crude steadied after its biggest loss in almost two months as fears of a trade war prompted investors to dump commodities and gold held onto gains.
Asian stocks declined as a sell-off in once much-favored U.S. technology shares deepened and volatility soared. Havens like the yen added to gains and Treasuries steadied.
Here are some key events coming up this week:
⭐ The Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy decision is due Tuesday.
⭐ The New York Fed debuts the Secured Overnight Financing Rate on Tuesday.
⭐ The Reserve Bank of India decides on policy Thursday.
⭐ U.S. employment data are due Friday; the jobless rate probably fell in March after holding at 4.1 percent for five straight months.
⭐ These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
⭐ The Topix index fell 0.9 percent as of 9:08 a.m. in Tokyo.
⭐ Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.3 percent.
⭐ South Korea’s Kospi index declined 0.8 percent.
⭐ Futures on the S&P 500 Index were 0.4 percent higher. The main gauge declined 2.2 percent Monday. The index is now lower by more than 10 percent from its January record. The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.9 percent.
⭐ The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.4 percent.
