Stocks Mixed With Earnings Rolling In; Dollar Up: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Stock futures were mixed Thursday along with Asian shares as investors weighed a signal from the Federal Reserve that more stimulus will be provided against a slew of earnings and the continued spread of the coronavirus. The dollar edged higher.

Shares in Hong Kong, Australia and India outperformed, while gains fizzled in Tokyo and stocks fluctuated in Shanghai. Futures on the S&P 500 Index edged lower after the gauge extended its July rally, with the Fed keeping rates near zero and pledging to use all of its tools to support a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. European contracts were flat. The Australian dollar slipped after new coronavirus cases in the country surged to a record. Treasuries were steady, while gold dipped.

Investors also sifted through a batch of corporate earnings, with Qualcomm Inc. jumping in extended U.S. trading on a strong sales forecast. Technology giants Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. are due to report Thursday.

As the pandemic continues to rage, governments are having to double down on the $11 trillion dollars worth of stimulus and unprecedented central bank support unleashed since the crisis began. The Fed has kept rates pinned near zero since the outbreak’s onset in March and rolled out several emergency lending programs geared toward fostering liquid trading conditions in financial markets.

The Fed “committed to do whatever it can to support the economy and keep the liquidity environment very accommodative,” Margaret Yang, strategist at DailyFX, said on Bloomberg TV. Results on Thursday from large tech firms will be “very critical to market sentiment, so if those companies miss the earnings target then market sentiment could get dampened.”

Elsewhere, oil was steady after the biggest decline in U.S. crude inventories this year signaled a bright spot in a market weakened by Covid-19.

Here are some key events coming up:

• Apple, Amazon.com, Alphabet report earnings Thursday; results from Chevron Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. are due Friday.
• U.S. second-quarter GDP is expected on Thursday.
• China PMI data comes Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% as of 6:48 a.m. in London. The index climbed 1.2% Wednesday.
• Japan’s Topix index fell 0.6%.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.7%.
• Shanghai Composite rose 0.1%.
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures added 0.1%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%.
• The euro bought $1.1763, down 0.3%.
• The yen was at 105.26 per dollar, 0.3% lower.
• The offshore yuan traded flat at 7.0039 per dollar.
• The Aussie fell 0.5% to 71.56 U.S. cents.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at 0.57%.
• Australia’s 10-year yield slipped about one basis point to 0.86%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.2% to $41.20 a barrel.
• Gold was at $1,959.11 an ounce, down 0.6%.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.