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The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, December 29, 2023 Photo - 

SYDNEY :Global stock markets were lacklustre on Wednesday, while the dollar stayed strong, as market optimism about early U.S. interest rate cuts ebbed and the latest escalation of hostilities in the Middle East weighed on sentiment.

MSCI's broad index of world equities was 0.1 per cent lower, following a 0.8 per cent fall on Tuesday, marking a weak start to 2024 that may herald the end of the blistering gains for stocks and bonds that began late last year.

Europe's STOXX 600 share index opened flat and Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.3 per cent.

Caution crept in ahead of the release of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's December meeting, due at 1900 GMT on Wednesday.

Fed officials in December predicted 75 basis points (bps) of rate cuts in 2024, driving money market bets for around double that amount of cuts that prompted a cross-market year-end rally.

Futures markets still see a 70 per cent chance of the Fed starting to lower U.S. borrowing costs from their current 22-year high from March.

"The market has already executed a pivot on the Fed’s behalf," strategists at Rabobank said in a research note, adding that the minutes "may still reinforce" the views of policymakers who are less committed to imminent cuts.

Reuters analysis of Fed policymakers' recent comments shows that, while many of them have noted improvements on inflation and some easing of wage pressures, most have not said monetary easing is urgent.

Important U.S. data this week should clarify the outlook further, with ISM's manufacturing survey, due later on Wednesday, set to signal whether the central bank has any new signs of an economic slowdown to worry about. The market-moving U.S. nonfarm payrolls report is due on Friday.

Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com, said the combination of event risk and thin liquidity at the tail end of the holiday raises the prospect of exaggerated moves in markets and heightened volatility this week.

"All that's required is a catalyst, which could come from the data flow in the coming days," Rodda said.

Futures markets tipped Wall Street's S&P 500 index to open flat later in the day after Tuesday's 0.6 per cent fall in a retreat from record highs.

The tech-focused Nasdaq slid 1.6 per cent on Tuesday, dragged lower by a nearly 3 per cent drop in Apple to a seven-week low after Barclays downgraded its shares.

It was also set to flatline on Wednesday, judging by futures trade.

A climb in U.S. Treasury yields as the government debt securities sold off also continued on Wednesday. The benchmark 10-year yield, a barometer of expected long-term borrowing costs, briefly popped above 4 per cent on Tuesday.

It was last trading around 2 bps higher at 3.96 per cent.

Germany's 10-year Bund yield climbed 3 bps to 2.089 per cent, rising for the fourth consecutive session.

Market sentiment was souring after tensions in the Middle East ratcheted up.

Israel on Tuesday killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon's capital Beirut, Lebanese and Palestinian security sources said, raising the risk of war in Gaza spreading well beyond the Palestinian enclave.

Denmark's Maersk and German rival Hapag-Lloyd said on Tuesday their container ships would continue to avoid the Red Sea after a series of attacks on vessels blamed on Houthi militants.

The U.S. dollar, which climbed 0.8 per cent against an index of major currencies overnight to a two-week high, held steady at 102.1.

Brent crude oil futures,, were 0.2 per cent lower at $75.69 a barrel as expectations of ample supply outweighed concerns about disruptions to Red Sea shipping routes [O/R].

Spot gold rose 0.3 per cent to $2,065.39 an ounce//CNA-VOI

U.S. dollar banknote is seen in this picture illustration taken May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo - 

LONDON/SINGAPORE :The dollar stayed near a two-week high on Wednesday after jumping the previous day, its rally underpinned by elevated U.S. Treasury yields and a cautious turn that weighed on Wall Street.

Trading was relatively subdued, with Japanese markets shut for a holiday and investors waiting for important U.S. economic releases later in the day, including minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting.

The euro was last up 0.12 per cent against the dollar at $1.0954. It fell 0.95 per cent on Tuesday, its biggest daily drop since July.

That helped push the dollar index, which tracks the currency against six major peers, slightly lower to 102.18, although it held on to almost all of the previous day's gains of 0.86 per cent.

A surge in risk appetite at the end of last year, sparked by a drop in inflation and a dovish tilt in the Federal Reserve's December policy meeting, fuelled bets for U.S. rate cuts in 2024, toppling the greenback and sparking a rally in Treasuries and stocks. The dollar index hit a five-month low of 100.61 last week.

That buoyant mood failed to carry over into the New Year, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closing lower on their first trading session of 2024, dragged down by big tech names [.N]. Treasury yields jumped as prices fell, boosting the attractiveness of U.S. debt and propelling the dollar higher.

"I think that what happened in the latter half of December was just not justified," said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

"The markets got carried away with this view of imminent Fed cuts in the first quarter, that took the dollar off. So I do think that this reversal can carry on for a bit longer."

The greenback was last up 0.43 per cent against Japan's yen at 142.57 to the dollar, adding to the previous day's 0.82 per cent gain.

Investors will scrutinise the minutes from the Fed's December meeting, due at 1900 GMT (2 p.m. ET), for any hints about how many rate cuts the central bank will actually carry out this year.

Data on U.S. job openings for November and a survey-based gauge of the manufacturing sector could also move markets.

"As more people come back it will be more about the data," said RBC's Tan.

The New Zealand dollar, often used as a proxy for risk appetite, was last 0.11 per cent higher at $0.6259, having slid to a two-week low of $0.6246 earlier on Wednesday.

Sterling gained 0.21 per cent to $1.2646, having slid 0.87 per cent in the previous session, its sharpest daily fall in nearly three months.

Analysts said the risk-off mood was also in part driven by concerns over escalating geopolitical tensions, after Israel killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday.

"I suspect that markets (are) starting the year with finding it hard to completely ignore geopolitics," said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank//CNA-VOI

Pump jacks of Wintershall DEA are pictured in Emlichheim near the northern German city of Meppen, Germany, Mar 9, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Fabian Bimmer) - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Oil prices stabilised in early Asian trade on Wednesday (Jan 3) after sharp moves earlier in the week, as markets weighed concerns about the US economy and potential supply disruptions from ongoing tensions in the Red Sea.

Brent crude slipped 1 cent, or 0.01 per cent, to US$75.88 a barrel by 0300 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 4 cents, or 0.06 per cent, to US$70.42 a barrel.

Oil prices had climbed around US$2 earlier in the week following attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels over the weekend and the reported arrival of an Iranian warship on Monday. A wider conflict could close crucial waterways for oil transportation and disrupt trade flows.

However, the market fell in the previous session as market optimism about early and aggressive US interest rate cuts ebbed ahead of the release of Federal Reserve minutes and jobs data.

"Energy markets were unable to escape the broader pressure seen on risk assets with equity markets also weaker. The weakness in oil comes despite a ratcheting up in tensions in the Middle East," said ING analysts in a client note.

Expectations of ample supply in the first half of 2024 have kept a lid on prices ahead of OPEC+ plans to hold a meeting of its Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) in early February. An exact date has not been decided, three sources from the alliance said.

"While the geopolitical situation is a concern for the oil market, a fairly comfortable oil balance over the first half of 2024 does help to ease some of these worries," said ING analysts.

"Given the scale of cuts we are already seeing, it will be increasingly difficult for the group to cut more if needed over the course of 2024," they said, pointing to the fact that recent cuts have been driven by voluntary reductions, rather than group-wide cuts.

Ahead of weekly US crude and product inventory reports, analysts polled by Reuters expected crude stockpiles fell last week, while distillate and gasoline stocks likely rose.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group is due at 4.30pm local time (2130 GMT) on Wednesday, and data from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Department of Energy, is due at 11am (1600 GMT) on Thursday, delayed by a day due to the New Year's holiday on Monday//CNA-VOI

Firefighters inspect collapsed wooden houses in the city of Wajima on Japan's Noto Peninsula, the area hardest hit by the New Year's Day earthquake (Photo: AFP/Kazuhiro NOGI) - 

Voinews, Jakarta, WAJIMA: Japanese rescuers scrambled to search for survivors on Wednesday (Jan 3) as authorities warned of landslides and heavy rain after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 62 people.

The 7.5-magnitude quake on Jan 1 that rattled Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu triggered tsunami waves more than a metre high, sparked a major fire and tore apart roads.

The Noto Peninsula of the prefecture was most severely hit, with several hundred buildings ravaged by fire and houses flattened in several towns, including Wajima and Suzu, as shown by before-and-after satellite images released on Wednesday.

The regional government announced on Wednesday that 62 people had been confirmed dead and more than 300 injured, 20 of them seriously.

The toll was expected to climb as rescuers battle aftershocks and poor weather to comb through rubble.

More than 31,800 people were in shelters, the government said.

"More than 40 hours have passed since the disaster. We have received a lot of information about people in need of rescue and there are people waiting for help," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday after an emergency task force meeting.

The number of military personnel sent to the area on rescue missions has been doubled, with more rescue dogs also deployed, he added.

The operation was given extra urgency as the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a heavy rain warning in the region, advising people to be on alert for landslides until Wednesday evening.

There were "almost no houses standing" in one town in the Suzu area, said municipal mayor Masuhiro Izumiya.

"About 90 per cent of the houses (in that town) are completely or almost completely destroyed ... The situation is really catastrophic," he said, according to broadcaster TBS//CNA-VOI