- Global stocks fell Thursday on revived jitters about
Evergrande after a $2.6 billion stake sale fell through. - The Chinese
property giant's Hong Kong shares plunged as the end of a grace period for an offshore interest payment nears. Bitcoin dropped from its latest all-time high near $67,000 to around $65,100.
Global stocks slipped Thursday, as revived worries about a default by Chinese property giant Evergrande took the wind out of optimism over strong US quarterly earnings.
The benchmark S&P 500 closed just below September's record high on Wednesday, while the Dow Jones added more than 150 points.
But futures on the $4 and the $4 both fell 0.3% as of 4:10 a.m. ET, suggesting a slightly lower start to trading later in the day. Those on the $4, which closed lower the previous session, shed 0.2%.
In Hong Kong, Evergrande Group shares $4 before closing 12.5% lower. Investors shed the stock after a $2.6 billion deal $4 for the sale of a 51% stake in its property services division to Hopson Development. Evergrande's shares resumed trading in Hong Kong Thursday after being suspended for more than two weeks.
Another test of the property developer looms. A 30-day grace period on a missed $83.5 million coupon payment expires Saturday, and could trigger a cross-default on other debt instruments, according to Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.
"Following other Chinese developers' recent defaults, the Evergrande story and the leverage in China's property development sector could make an overdue return to the front pages this weekend and see
In Hong Kong, the $4 ended down 0.4%. Tokyo's $4 was 1.8% lower at the close, while the $4 rose 0.2%.
Following that lead in Europe early Thursday, the pan-continental $4 and $4 each slipped 0.2%. $4 lost 0.4%.
Investors have been faced with persistent headwinds for stocks recently, including a global surge in COVID-19 cases, supply-chain disruptions, the prospect of a Federal Reserve rate hike, and a spike in inflation.
But a stream of positive third-quarter earnings reports for US companies has helped blot out those concerns, giving equities a lift.
After the close Wednesday, Tesla $4 in the third quarter, despite chip shortages and port backlogs that have prevented the electric-car maker's production from hitting full capacity.
"Tesla's ability to keep cars rolling off the production line during a supply crisis gives it the edge over rivals, but Q4 will be testing for the automaker," said Adam Vettese, an analyst at investment platform eToro.
$4, which hit an intraday peak of $66,976 on Wednesday, retreated from its fresh all-time high to about $65,172. The digital asset is up about 49% so far this month, and 124% higher year-to-date.
JPMorgan said in a Wednesday note that concerns of rising inflation are a major factor driving bitcoin's latest momentum, not the fact that the $4 just launched in the US.
Oil prices hovered around multiyear highs after the US Energy Information Administration reported that $4 by 431,000 barrels. Gasoline inventories were down 5.37 million barrels to their lowest levels since November 2019.
$4 was last down 0.9% at $84.98 a barrel, and $4 fell 0.7% to $82.78 a barrel.
"Continued strength in oil prices means that pressure on OPEC+ to pump more will only grow," ING analysts Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao said.
For the day ahead, data releases include US initial jobless claims and existing home sales, and eurozone debt-to-GDP and consumer confidence.
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