Stocks Steady Near Record Highs; Bonds Hold Losses: Markets Wrap

Stocks Steady Near Record Highs; Bonds Hold Losses: Markets Wrap
Adam Haigh

(Bloomberg) -- Stocks opened with little fanfare Friday as holidays across Asia curbed trading and U.S. equity futures were little changed. Treasuries held overnight losses in the wake of data signaling a modest firming in the labor market.

Shares ticked higher in Japan and dipped in Australia. S&P 500 futures were flat after the benchmark earlier eked out a gain to close at an all-time high. Strength in tech shares ensured the Nasdaq 100 outperformed. Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell slightly last week in a sign that the labor market is still gradually improving. The yield on ten-year Treasuries held at about 1.16%. The dollar was steady against most G-10 peers.

Elsewhere, crude oil retreated following the International Energy Agency’s bleaker outlook for global demand. Walt Disney Co. climbed post market after strong growth in its streaming services. Bitcoin climbed to a record.

After a sharp run-up in global equities to a record high this year and signs central banks will keep supportive monetary policy in place, a debate is rumbling over whether more stimulus along with the vaccine distribution will cause inflation to overheat.

“My big concern is that we get the mother of all melt ups and we get to those levels earlier and that generates a material risk of a melt down in the autumn,” James Bevan, chief investment officer at CCLA Investment Management Ltd. said on Bloomberg TV.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:05 a.m. in Tokyo. Tnhe gauge rose 0.2% on Thursday.Japan’s Topix index added 0.2%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed.

Currencies

The yen was at 104.76 per dollar.The offshore yuan traded at 6.4212 per dollar.The euro bought $1.2130.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at 1.16%.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $57.90 a barrel.Gold was at $1,826.84 an ounce.

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