Asian Stock Market: Sluggish amid mixed clues, cautious sentiment

• Asia-Pacific equities fail to extend Wall Street gains amid downbeat performance of China, Indonesia.
• Jobless Claims renewed bullish momentum in the US, PMIs eyed.
• Lack of major data/events, wait for the key activity numbers test the mood.
• Economic calendar, news feed fail to entertain traders.

Asian shares look for fresh direction ahead of Friday’s European session. The Asia-Pacific equities began the day on a positive side while following Wall Street but losses in China joined consolidation elsewhere trouble the traders afterward.

That said, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gains 0.07%, up for a weekly gain, by the press time.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 ignores expansion of the virus-led emergency to one more prefecture Okinawa, as well as mixed prints of National Consumer Price Index (CPI), to print 0.80% intraday gains. Australia’s ASX 200 is on the same line while rising 0.17% on a day amid better-than-forecast Retail Sales and tussles with China.

Stocks from Beijing bear the burden of a sharp drop in Tencent and volatile cryptos while those from Indonesia, represented by IDX Composite, dropped as Indonesia's Q1 current account marked a $1.0 billion deficit, 0.4% of GDP, bucking the previous two-quarter surplus.

India’s BSE Sensex and New Zealand’s NZX 50 were on the positive side while taking clues from Australia and Japan respectively. Further, S&P 500 Futures rise 0.30% whereas the US dollar index (DXY) swings between gains and losses after US Jobless Claims teased reflation fears the previous day.

Read: Wall Street Close: Nasdaq leads the week’s first positive day

Although a light calendar and dead feeds troubled investors in Asia, an active day filled by the key PMIs us ahead for the market player to cheer. It should, however, be noted that US activity numbers shouldn’t be too high else bears may jump forward.