Asia to Rally After U.S. Hits Record; Dollar Rises: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks looked set for gains after their U.S. peers climbed to a record on signs the labor market is healing. The dollar strengthened.

Futures pointed higher in Japan and Australia. The S&P 500 closed up more than 1%, led by banks and tech shares, while the Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies climbed 2%. Earnings remained in focus with Ebay Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. surging on upbeat forecasts. A widely watched segment of the Treasury yield curve steepened to levels last seen in 2015. Crude oil advanced and gold fell.

Global equities are flirting with all-time highs as corporate profits rebound and central banks remain supportive amid the ongoing pandemic. A report Thursday showed jobless claims fell to the lowest since November and investor focus turns to payroll data Friday.

“The economic data is coming in very strong,” Andrew Slimmon, fund manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said on Bloomberg TV. “The market is going to struggle at some point this year, but at the moment it’s too early because the numbers are still coming through.”

On the virus front, restrictions are lifting around the U.S. as the outbreak eases. The Bank of England forecast that the U.K. economy is heading for a powerful rebound thanks to an aggressive push to vaccinate citizens. France said a new lockdown is not justified at the moment.

Elsewhere, GameStop Corp. had another day of heavy losses, with this week’s plunge exceeding 80% as retail traders flocked to other corners of the stock market such as small drug developers.

There are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 1.1% on Thursday.
• Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1%.
• Hang Seng futures earlier closed flat.
• Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1%.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at 1.14%.

Currencies

• The yen was at 105.55 per dollar.
• The offshore yuan traded at 6.4722 per dollar.
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%.
• The euro bought $1.1962.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.2% to $56.37 a barrel.
• Gold fell 2.2% to $1,793.52 an ounce.

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