* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Asia markets broadly, S&P futures yield losses
* Apple, Facebook slips despite optimal results
* Discussion of emergency sales by hedge funds as shorts
* Dollar gets a safe haven as euro traces
By Wayne Cole
SYDNEY / NEW YORK, Jan. 28 (Reuters) – Asian stocks slipped Thursday as safe-haven dollars rose as a sudden sellout on Wall Street and delays with coronavirus vaccines were an excuse to profit on recent solid gains .
MSCI’s broadest Asia-Pacific equities index outside Japan rose 1.8%, and valuations appear to be stretched as the index rose more than 6% just this month.
The Japanese Nikkei fell 1.3%, the sharpest drop since October, and Chinese blue chips lost 2.4% when liquidity tightened before the New Year holiday.
South Korea eased 1.7%, led by losses in Samsung after reporting its earnings.
Even the tech sweethearts were not immune to Facebook, despite the fact that earnings were above expectations. Apple Inc also made predictions, but its shares lost 3% after the clock.
There was a hint of resilience when US futures futures slowed early losses, leaving Eminis at 0.2% for the S&P 500 and 0.3% at NASDAQ futures. EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell 0.3% and FTSE futures 0.7%.
There was no clear trigger for the route, many people seemed to be rushing to the exits at the same time in a market priced for perfection.
Traders said investors with high leverage would reap profits where they could to cover losses elsewhere, leading to a sharp drop in many overcrowded industries.
Some have pointed a finger at retail investors who have had to put tremendous pressure on hedge funds with a short position in stocks such as GameStop.
GameStop and several other stocks with a large offering later retreated into long-term trading after Reddit briefly restricted access to its popular WallStreetBets website.
“The Reddit army should soon be prepared for stricter rules and regulations, which should kill the idea that what happened to GameStop will happen to others,” said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA.
VOTE WINDS
The fierce optimism that vaccines would cure the world economy within a few months was tense by the outbreak of new variants and problems with the spread of shots in the United States and Europe.
Traders noted that the market also preferred to focus overnight on a poor economic outlook from the Federal Reserve rather than on its promise of continued policy support.
“The Fed’s recognition of a slowdown in the pace of recovery and dependence on vaccine vaccination is not new news, but it does give investors a bit of a check on reality, pushing out the timing for recovery,” said Rodrigo Catril. a senior FX strategist at NAB.
The sudden change in mood caused the ten-year treasury yields to fall 3 basis points overnight to 1.01%, far from the recent high of 1.187%.
The safe haven U.S. dollar rose widely, with its index at 90,753 from a low of 89,206 in January. The dollar strengthened to 104.33 yen and away from the week’s trough of 103.54.
The euro fell back to $ 1.2090 amid reports that the European Central Bank believed markets were risking more rate cuts.
Commodity-linked currencies have been hit by all the economic turmoil, with the Australian and New Zealand dollars both shaking off more than 1% overnight.
The denial in the dollar kept gold prices at about $ 1,836 per ounce.
Global demand has curbed oil prices despite a sharp drop in US crude shares. U.S. crude oil fell 25 cents to $ 52.60 a barrel, while Brent crude futures fell 33 cents to $ 55.48.
(Additional reporting by Alwyn Scott; editing by Christian Schmollinger and Ana Nicolaci da Costa)