· Stock futures little changed following three straight days of losses on Wall Street
Stock futures were little changed in early morning trading on Thursday after major averages registered a third straight day of losses amid a drop in cryptocurrency prices.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 4 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both traded around the flatline.
· Stocks struggle as taper talk, crypto crash put markets on edge
Stock markets struggled for traction on Thursday after a jittery session on Wall Street where cryptocurrencies crashed and a hint of tapering talk from the U.S. Federal Reserve drove selling in the bond market and lifted the safe-haven dollar.
Benchmarks in South Korea (.KS11) and Japan (.N225) were either side of flat in morning trade and Hong Kong's Hang Seng (.HSI) fell about 0.8% to pull MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) down by 0.2%.
Bitcoin , which plunged as much as 30% to $30,000 overnight, was struggling for support around $36,000. U.S. stock futures , wobbled just below flat.
Commodities also fell, Treasuries nursed losses while the dollar held overnight gains.
· Japanese shares inch higher as chip gains offset losses in cyclicals
Japanese shares ended marginally higher on Thursday, as gains by chip-related stocks tracking U.S. peers offset losses in cyclical shares.
The Nikkei share average rose 0.19% to close at 28,098.25, after losing as much as 0.80% earlier in the session, while the broader Topix edged up 0.04% to 1,895.92.
· China stocks end mixed, resources losses offset gains in financials
China stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as gains in financial firms offset losses in resources companies after Beijing vowed to stabilize commodities prices.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.3%, to 5,186.41, while the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.1% to 3,506.94.
The CSI300 energy index and the CSI A-share resource industries index were among the worst performing sectors, closing down 3.2% and 3.3%, respectively.
· ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming to step down as CEO
Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, told employees of the Chinese technology giant in a memo that he will step down as chief executive and be succeeded by human resource chief Liang Rubo, the company disclosed on Thursday.
· European markets climb, unmoved by crypto plunge and Fed taper talk
European stocks opened higher on Thursday, dodging concerns over sharp declines in bitcoin and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hints that it could taper its asset purchase programs sooner rather than later.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.6% in early trade, with travel and leisure stocks adding 1.2% to lead gains as all sectors and major bourses entered positive territory.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
Thai
Eng