Asian stocks fell as Japanese shares declined with a stronger yen, while commodity shares dropped after Saudi Arabia said it doesn’t anticipate any decision on supply at an OPEC meeting later this week.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.1 percent to 141.83 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo. The Topix index lost 0.3 percent as the yen rose 0.2 percent against the dollar before a speech by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. Energy shares fell after Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter and the leading member for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said a meeting in Algiers will be consultative and unlikely to reach a firm decision. New Zealand’s trade gap widened as exports fell to a three-year low, while Thailand reports on trade and Singapore on industrial output Monday.
Attention is turning to oil after Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa said that Saudi Arabia offered to cut output to January levels, triggering the biggest price drop in the crude price in more than two months. Crude has tumbled by more than half since 2014 when OPEC members were give the green light to produce at will. Asian shares last week capped their best week since July after the U.S. Federal Reserve scaled back its plan to raise interest rates, while central banks from Japan to Indonesia extended loose monetary policy stances.
“Oil spot prices will have a big influence on where equities markets are going to trade for the early part of the week,” Angus Nicholson, a Melbourne-based analyst at IG Ltd., said by phone. “There are uncertainties over whether the OPEC members can reach an agreement.”
South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.1 percent as did Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index declined 0.3 percent. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to start trading.
Futures on the China A50 Index and the Hang Seng Index both added less than 0.1 percent in their most recent trading. Chinese shares dropped to their lowest level in a month amid speculation the central bank won’t add to stimulus.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index were little changed. The U.S. equity benchmark index surged 1.2 percent last week, the biggest advance in more than two months, after the Fed opted to wait for further evidence of stronger inflation before raising rates, even as the economy showed signs of improving.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.9 percent in New York after their biggest drop in more than two months Friday on speculation OPEC will agree on ways to stabilize the market. This comes after they tumbled as much as 4 percent late Friday after Saudi Arabia said it doesn’t anticipate any decision on supply management at the meeting.
To contact the reporter on this story: Choong En Han in Kuala Lumpur at echoong6@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeff Sutherland at jsutherlan13@bloomberg.net, Andreea Papuc, Andrew Janes
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