US equity futures steady in light trading, Tesla declines

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US equity futures were little changed while Asian stocks rose in holiday-thinned trading as investors assessed the Federal Reserve’s policy path following US jobs data.
S&P 500 contracts rose less than 0.1% and MSCI Inc’s Asia-Pacific equity index added 0.2%. Trading volumes were light with markets across Europe, Hong Kong and Australia closed for Easter holidays.
In the US premarket activity, Tesla Inc edged lower after cutting prices of all models for the second time this year. Micron Technology Inc advanced 6.5% after rival Samsung Electronics said that it would cut memory chip production.
Treasuries held a retreat, when a solid US hiring report bolstered bets for another Fed rate increase. The next major data point is Wednesday’s report on consumer prices, which is expected to show a 0.4% monthly increase in core CPI.
“The Fed will still see the need for further cooling in the labour market,” Win Thin, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, wrote in a research note. “The latest CPI and PPI data are likely to underscore the fact that inflation remains stubbornly high and so we look for the hawkish tilt in Fed comments to continue.”
Meanwhile, Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda spoke at his first news conference since taking the new role and suggested that the country’s easy monetary policy will continue.
In other markets, oil and the dollar were little changed. Gold fell traded near $2,000 an ounce and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index ticked up 0.2%.
S&P 500 futures little changed in New York and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%.
While the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed, the euro was little changed at $1.0907 and the British pound rose 0.1% to $1.2434. The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 132.30 per dollar.
Bitcoin rose 0.8% to $28,356.85 and ether rose 0.3% to $1,862.28. The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.38%.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% to $80.82 a barrel and gold futures fell 0.5% to $2,017.10 an ounce.

China AI stocks sink
Chinese shares related to artificial intelligence (AI) plunged after a state media outlet urged authorities to step up supervision of potential speculation.
The ChatGPT concept sector has “signs of a valuation bubble,” with many companies having made little progress in developing the technology, the Economic Daily wrote in a commentary.
Regulators should strengthen monitoring and crackdown on share-price manipulation and speculation to create “a well-disclosed and well-run market,” according to the newspaper, which runs a website officially recognised by Beijing. Companies, it said, should develop the capabilities they propose, while investors should refrain from speculating.
CloudWalk Technology Co tumbled a record 20%, while 360 Security Technology Inc dropped by 10%, the most in three years. Beijing Haitian Ruisheng Science Technology Ltd sank 15%.
Since the release of ChatGPT, Chinese shares related to technology have surged, with domestic big techs joining the race to develop generative AI. SenseTime Group Inc rose the most in two months in Hong Kong amid speculation that the SoftBank Group Corp-backed company was developing a product to challenge ChatGPT. Shares of Alibaba suppliers also jumped on reports that the tech giant will unveil its answer to ChatGPT.
“Generative AI is the hottest trend now and many tech companies will be launching their own versions in the coming months,” said Vey-Sern Ling, managing director at Union Bancaire Privee.