Stocks, U.S. Futures Churn Higher; Dollar Steadies: Markets Wrap

Global stock markets stabilized after Monday’s losses, with investors feeling confident enough in the economic recovery and vaccine rollout to buy the dip in some risk assets.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index edged up with energy shares and travel companies leading gains. Commodity prices rose as the dollar stabilized, while benchmark Treasury yields ticked higher. After Bitcoin suffered steep declines on Monday, the largest cryptocurrency bounced back above $36,000.

The mood across markets was mildly positive and investors are continuing to assess how the rise in Treasury yields changes the financial landscape. While progress on a vaccine gives reason to be hopeful, there are lingering concerns over the speculative excess and froth that’s driven stock markets to all-time highs in the middle of a pandemic.

“A new, more speculative, more volatile phase of the bull market has begun,” said Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivatives strategist at BTIG LLC. “The depth of any such pullbacks in 2021 is largely dependent on yields.”

In Asia, China’s CSI 300 Index rallied to a 13-year high, driven by a surge in financial and securities stocks. The yuan reached the highest since 2018 versus a basket of trading partners’ currencies on upbeat growth prospects.

Here are some key events coming up:

• JPMorgan Chase & Co.,Citigroup Inc. andWells Fargo & Co., as well as firms ranging fromTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. toInfosys Ltd., are among those due to report earnings.
• EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
• European Central Bank’s Christine Lagarde speaks at an onlineconference Wednesday.
• U.S. consumer-price inflation figures are due Wednesday.
• Biden plans to lay outproposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell takes part in awebinar on Thursday.
• U.S. initial jobless claims data are due Thursday.
• U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentimentfigures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 Index increased 0.1% as of 8:28 a.m. London time.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.2%.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.3%.
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.2%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.1% to 1,126.04.
• The euro was little changed at $1.2158.
• The British pound climbed 0.2% to $1.3547.
• The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 104.20 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose less than one basis point to 1.15%.
• The yield on two-year Treasuries was unchanged at 0.14%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to -0.49%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.32%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.8% to $52.60 a barrel.
• Gold strengthened 0.7% to $1,857.30 an ounce.

Source: Read Full Article