Asian Stocks Set for Modest Gains, Dollar Steady: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Asian equities looked set for modest gains Tuesday as investors awaited comments from Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen on U.S. stimulus and the dollar.

Stocks rose in Australia while futures pointed higher in Japan and Hong Kong. S&P 500 contracts edged up and the greenback was steady. European equities closed with small gains Monday and U.S. markets were closed for a holiday. Treasury futures were little changed.

Yellen’s Senate confirmation hearing is likely to feature topics from foreign-exchange policy to taxes, but will also serve as the first congressional forum where lawmakers will vet President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan. Traders will also monitor Donald Trump’s last full day in office.

Elsewhere, oil edged lower, gold dipped and Bitcoin fluctuated around the $36,000 level.

After a strong start to the year, the rally in global stock markets is losing steam as investors turn to the upcoming earnings season and the difficult negotiations ahead for Biden’s relief plan. His proposals could be watered down under congressional opposition, and there’s the possibility that some taxes could rise.

On the coronavirus front, cases topped 95 million, while the U.S. death toll from Covid-19 neared 400,000. The European Union’s executive arm will urge member states to set a target for vaccinating at least 70% of the bloc’s population by this summer.

These are some key events coming up in the week ahead:

• Earnings come from companies including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Procter & Gamble, Intel, and Netflix.
• Joe Biden takes office as U.S. president on Wednesday.
• Policy decisions are due Wednesday from central banks in Brazil, Malaysia and Canada. The Bank of Japan and the ECB deliver decisions Thursday.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.2% as of 8:26 a.m. Tokyo time.
• Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.5%.
• S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.8%.
• Hang Seng futures were up 0.3%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell less than 0.1% Monday.
• The euro was steady at $1.2076.
• The British pound was flat at $1.3580.
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 103.69 per dollar.
• The offshore yuan was flat at 6.4978 per dollar.

Bonds

• U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were at 1.08% Friday.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 0.2% to $52.28 a barrel.
• Gold fell 0.2% to $1,837 an ounce.

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