U.S. Stock Trading During South Korean Business Hours

Asian investors can now buy and sell U.S. stocks in real-time during Korean business hours. They will be able to do this thanks to a collaboration between Samsung (KS:005930) Securities and Blue Ocean Technologies LLC, a U.S.-based off-exchange trading venue operator, the companies announced on Monday.

It is the first time in the history of U.S. markets that the Asia Pacific and Korean investors will trade U.S. stocks before U.S. investors. Blue Ocean also facilitates overnight stock trading in the United States for brokerages such as Cowen, Charles Schwab Corp’s T.D. Ameritrade, Morgan Stanley’s as well as market makers Virtu Financial and Jane Street Capital, according to Hyndman.

Asian investors purchasing stocks through Samsung during Seoul business hours will trade with each other and against the U.S. Blue Ocean order flow.

Start the Week as Earnings Season Slows

Stocks in the United States fell sharply overnight as the pace of the fourth-quarter earnings season slows this week, with three Dow members – Amgen on Monday, Disney on Wednesday, and Coca-Cola on Thursday – and 80 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report. More than half of the S&P 500 companies have reported three weeks into earnings season.

Wall Street ended a mostly upbeat week on a mixed note. After the massive U.S. jobs report, Treasury yields soared, raised investors’ expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates aggressively soon. According to the Labor Department, employers added 467,000 jobs last month, more than tripling economists’ predictions. Some economists predicted job losses due to the January surge in coronavirus infections caused by the omicron variant.

Treasury yields soared immediately after the jobs report release, tracking forecasts that the Fed will raise short-term interest rates more aggressively than previously anticipated.

Market participants will also be looking forward to Thursday’s new U.S. inflation and jobless claims data.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks fell on Monday, except Shanghai’s benchmark, which rose after markets reopened following the Lunar New Year holidays. On Friday, Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, and Hong Kong fell despite Friday’s unexpectedly positive U.S. jobs report.

Investors were keeping an eye on central banks in India, Indonesia, and Thailand. All of them should make monetary policy decisions within the next week.

Earnings reports from some of the region’s largest companies, including Japanese automakers, are due this week. They may provide updates on computer chip shortages and other pandemic-related disruptions and pressures.