Most Asia markets drop as Apple report fans economic worries

Most stocks fell yesterday after a Wall Street sell-off fuelled by fresh recession worries following a report that Apple planned to ease back on spending due to uncertainty over the economic outlook.In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed up 0.7% to 26,961.68 points; Hong Kong Hang Seng Index ended down 0.9% to 20,661.06 points and Shanghai Composite ended flat at 3,279.43 points yesterday. The drop across most markets in Asia also came as oil held a Monday surge caused by fading expectations that Joe Biden had convinced Saudi Arabia to pump more to ease a supply crisis and temper prices.The losses among equities ate into Monday’s gains, which came after a forecast-beating US retail sales report suggested consumers — the key driver of growth — remained resilient despite decade-high inflation and rising interest rates.And analysts warned that with the earnings season just getting under way, there could be more pain ahead for investors as firms report falling profits or warn about the outlook.In a sign of concern among big-cap firms about an economic slowdown or recession, Bloomberg News said tech titan Apple was pulling back on hiring and some investments. The news follows similar belt-tightening moves by other Silicon Valley giants including Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta.“With Apple putting up their hand and acknowledging they have too many staff, it is a clear sign of caution from the mega-cap heavyweight giants amid an uncertain time,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.“Investors are hoping for a ‘kitchen-sink’ quarter where corporates flush out all the bad news at once — but I am not sure that will happen, and I think this makes it difficult to put an absolute bottom on the equity selloff.”The report led to a reversal on Wall Street, with all three main indexes ending in negative territory, having enjoyed most of the day well up.Asia and Europe struggled yesterday.Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Wellington and Bangkok all fell, though Tokyo rose as investors there returned from a long weekend to play catch-up with Monday’s regional rally.Mumbai, Manila and Jakarta also rose, while Shanghai was marginally higher.London, Paris and Frankfurt all fell in the morning.Innes added that markets were likely to face pressure for some time as central banks continue to lift borrowing costs to fight inflation, risking an economic downturn.“The probability of recession is dominating US discussions, as inflation might have peaked in June while the Fed still has a couple of massive hikes ahead before possibly pausing,” he said.“We always hear that the rate hikes are in the price, but they are always a shock when the market actualises the reality, especially when they are of the jumbo variety.”The Fed’s fast monetary policy tightening has sent the dollar soaring against most other currencies, hitting parity with the euro last week.However, the single currency has strengthened this week ahead of a European Central Bank rate hike, with speculation growing that it will announce a half-point lift.On Tuesday the dollar briefly hit a record high above 80 rupees, with the Indian unit hammered by massive outflows of capital as the economy struggles.While some are predicting inflation may have reached its peak, oil prices — the key driver of soaring prices — remain elevated, despite recent losses.Both main contracts edged up after rocketing more than 5% on Monday on expectations that Riyadh will not open up the taps further, with Biden’s plea seeming to have fallen on deaf ears.Traders are also keeping a nervous eye on Europe, where a 10-day maintenance shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia is due to come to an end.Many fear Vladimir Putin will keep it shut down in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.