Asian stock market: Risks flash mixed signals amid off in China, India

• Asian equities register mixed moves amid an absence of major players, data/events.
• Risk aversion remains on the cards as US-China trade war fears renew, virus keep hurting the sentiment.
• PMIs, pandemic news and trade headlines will be the key during a likely calm start of the month.

Asian equities struggle to find a firm direction while stepping forward for the May month. The risk-off sentiment backed by the fresh US-China tussle seems to get knocked by the off in India and China. However, Japanese markets remain pressured due to downbeat data and fears of extended emergencies.

As a result, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan registers 0.90% gains by the press time of the pre-European session on Friday. Though, Japan’s NIKKEI drops 2.7% to 19,650 by the time of writing.

On the positive side, markets in Malaysia and the Philippines cheer the clues of easing lockdown restrictions from next week. Additionally, Indonesia’s IDX Composite also surge beyond 3.0% amid hopes of recovering from the pandemic due to the government’s tough measures to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Wall Street registered losses following the ECB’s failure to please the markets, fresh US-China noise, and expectations of 19% US Unemployment Rate joining the virus drama.

Taking that moves forward, the US stock futures also decline during the Asian session but the absence of China seems to have curbed the US Treasury yields’ moves.

Investors may witness a lack of major moves going forward, mainly due to the absence of major data/events. However, PMIs from the US, Canada and the UK may offer intermediate moves.

It should be noted that any surprise announcement from the US or Chinese administration concerning the trade deal could propel the present risk-off sentiment. Furthermore, virus updates will also be the key to the near-term direction.