Stocks Climb in Thin Volumes; Yen Drops\, Oil Falls: Markets Wrap

Stock Futures Edge Up; Yen Slips; Crude Oil Drops: Markets Wrap
A pedestrian wearing a protective mask walks past an electronic stock board displaying the Nikkei 225 Stock Average outside a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan. (Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)

Stock Futures Edge Up; Yen Slips; Crude Oil Drops: Markets Wrap

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(Bloomberg) -- U.S. and European stock futures saw modest gains on Monday, while Asia had a mixed session, as investors weigh a slowing death toll in a number of countries.

Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrials futures ticked higher, while those on the S&P 500 were flat after U.S. equities gained on Friday even in the wake of a historic surge in unemployment. Japanese shares outperformed amid talk of a potential further supplementary budget. Hong Kong and Sydney also climbed, while Korean equities dipped and Shanghai was little changed amid thin Asia-Pacific trading. Treasuries were flat, and oil slipped.

In India, bonds slumped after the government lifted borrowing to offset revenue lost due to the pandemic. The yield on 10-year bonds climbed 25 basis points, the biggest increase since February 2017.

On the coronavirus front, France, Italy and the U.K. all reported the fewest deaths since March, though South Korea warned of the risk of a second wave of infections. As governments around the world give more details on how economies will gradually restart, equities have ground higher from their March lows. That has led some investors to question whether further gains are warranted.

“Much of the eventual improved growth and virus news is already priced into markets,” said Bob Baur, chief global economist at Principal Global Investors LLC. “Because so much future growth and uptrend potential is priced in, we expect a period of relapse and consolidation through June.”

Meantime on the policy front, China’s central bank pledged “more powerful” policies to counter the economic hit, with more focus on growth and jobs. The quarterly monetary policy report didn’t repeat an earlier vow to “avoid excess liquidity flooding the economy.” The yuan showed little impact in offshore trading.

Elsewhere, West Texas crude is coming off the back of a 25% advance last week, when oil capped its first back-to-back gain since February.

Here are some key events coming up:

  • Earnings continue to roll in from companies including Tencent, Allianz, and Petrobras.
  • Regional Federal Reserve presidents James Bullard, Loretta Mester and Patrick Harker are due to speak at events on Tuesday.
  • OPEC gives its monthly oil market report on Wednesday.
  • U.S. weekly jobless claims data is due Thursday.
  • China on Friday releases industrial production and retail sales data for April.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • Futures on the S&P 500 were flat as of 7:05 a.m. in London. The gauge rose 1.7% on Friday.
  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures gained 0.2%.
  • MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.8%.

Currencies

  • The yen slid 0.2% to 106.91 per dollar.
  • The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0944 per dollar.
  • The euro bought $1.0838.

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries was flat at 0.68%.
  • Australia’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 0.97%.
  • India’s 10-year yield rose 22 basis points to 6.19%.

Commodities

  • West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.2% to $24.19 a barrel.
  • Gold added 0.2% to $1,706.51 an ounce.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.