U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower; Dollar Rebounds: Markets Wrap

U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower; Dollar Rebounds: Markets Wrap
Cecile Gutscher

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures edged lower in subdued trading at the end of a week that saw equities hit all-time highs before stalling. Oil futures fell for a second day, while the dollar rose for the first day in five.

The S&P 500 was set to open modestly lower ahead of a three-day weekend. The index has ended three straight days within 0.2% of its prior close after a rally Monday. Expedia Group Inc. fell in pre-market trading after reporting results that missed expectations. European stocks steadied after opening lower, with travel and mining shares dropping the most, while media stocks advanced.

After touching records, markets are pausing among mixed signals and a lack of fresh catalysts. Even as vaccines are distributed to millions, the emergence of new virus variants threaten to extend lockdowns and delay economic recoveries.

“Investor exuberance has somewhat waned,” according to Lewis Grant, a senior equities portfolio manager at Federated Hermes. “The calm belies an underlying uncertainty as investors await a clearer signal on the efficacy of vaccines before committing fully to the reflation trade.”

Despite losses on Friday, global stock markets are still on track for a weekly advance, with the MSCI World up 1.1% in the past five days.

Part of the reason behind the rally is that investors believe President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 relief package will deliver plenty of aid to the U.S. economy. On Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced legislation that would provide $593.5 billion in benefits, most of which is made up of $1,400 stimulus payments.

At the same time, the vaccine rollout is making progress. Biden announced on Thursday that the U.S. has finished deals for 100 million additional vaccine doses each from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc.

Elsewhere in markets, Bitcoin traded near a record. In European stocks, ING Groep NV gained 4.8% on better-than-expected earnings and as it signaled possible buybacks. L’Oreal SA also advanced after reporting an increase on sales in the fourth quarter.

Shares in British Airways owner IAG SA and EasyJet Plc slumped with Britons encouraged to put summer holidays on hold.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 Index lost 0.2% as of 8:41 a.m. New York time.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.1%.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.1%.The MSCI Emerging Market Index was little changed.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2%.The euro declined 0.1% to $1.2114.The British pound decreased 0.1% to $1.3804.The onshore yuan weakened 0.4% to 6.458 per dollar.The Japanese yen weakened 0.2% to 105 per dollar.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased one basis point to 1.17%.The yield on two-year Treasuries decreased less than one basis point to 0.11%.Germany’s 10-year yield jumped one basis point to -0.45%.Japan’s 10-year yield sank two basis points to 0.068%.Britain’s 10-year yield jumped two basis points to 0.49%.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude sank 0.8% to $57.79 a barrel.Brent crude sank 0.6% to $60.75 a barrel.Gold weakened 0.5% to $1,816.73 an ounce.

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Latest Stories

  • Trump 'made no attempt' to reach the National Guard to help overwhelmed Capitol Police, Rep. Castro says

    On the second day of President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, Rep. Joaquin Castro hammered the former president over his response to the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

  • HBCUs set fundraising records in a year when alumni like Kamala Harris have risen to new heights

    For America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities it has been a banner year.

  • Black physician's COVID-19 death highlights 'horrific' history of medical racism

    Dr. Susan Moore, a physician battling COVID-19, documented what she described as poor and hostile treatment she received at an Indiana hospital because she was a Black woman. Her death highlighted an issue that’s persisted among medical professionals since as early as the era of slavery.

  • Man dies by suicide outside U.S. representative's Texas home

    Police said there is no reason to believe there is a further threat to Van Duyne, a Republican. The FBI is assisting in the investigation.

  • How to Add a Little Extra Luxury to Your Bath Time

    If not a lot of luxuryOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Scene-by-scene: Graphic new footage of Capitol siege shows Mike Pence's narrow escape with the 'nuclear football'

    Donald Trump stands accused of being the “Inciter in Chief” who summoned a mob of violent insurrectionists to attack the Capitol building and try to overturn the result of the November election. In chilling new video footage played during his trial for impeachment, Senators were shown just how dangerous, violent and committed those rioters were on Jan 6. There are desperate calls for backup. Panicked Senators run through the building looking for escape routes. Brave police officers try to hold their lines and push the rioters back. Mitt Romney, a Republican senator who was steered away from trouble by police officer Eugene Goodman, said: "It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes. "That was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional". This is how the day unfolded, according to Democrat prosecutors. 12:30pm - Trump's speech

  • Russia says it would be ready to cut EU ties if hit with painful sanctions

    Russia said on Friday it would be ready to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc hit it with painful economic sanctions, a statement that Germany described as disconcerting and incomprehensible. Ties between Russia and the West, already at post-Cold War lows, have come under renewed pressure over the arrest and jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. Three European diplomats told Reuters on Thursday the EU was likely to impose travel bans and asset freezes on allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, possibly as soon as this month.

  • Judge denies motions to issue new arrest warrant, increase bail for Kyle Rittenhouse

    A Wisconsin judge on Thursday denied requests to issue an arrest warrant and increase the bond for Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old accused of homicide for killing two people in Kenosha last summer. The Kenosha County District Attorney's Office said Rittenhouse violated the conditions of his bail after he failed to update the court with his new address. Rittenhouse's attorney said his client had to move due to threats made against him. Rittenhouse has become a cause célèbre for the alt-right, with his supporters raising enough money in November to get him released from custody on a $2 million bond. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder denied the motion to increase Rittenhouse's bail by $200,000, and said while his new address could be given to the court, it would not be made public or shared with prosecutors. "After what this town has been through in the last six months, I don't want any more problems," Schroeder said. "The police don't need any more problems. We don't need to have people's safety in jeopardy in any way." On Jan. 5, Rittenhouse was spotted at a Wisconsin bar, where prosecutors say he was drinking beer and hanging out with people singing the anthem of the Proud Boys. He was also photographed making a white supremacist hand sign. In response, a judge on Jan. 22 approved new conditions for Rittenhouse's bond, prohibiting him from drinking alcohol, having weapons, and associating with anyone known to harass others based on their race or religion. More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.5 brutally funny cartoons about Republicans' twisted impeachment logicWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?

  • Myanmar coup leader: 'Join hands' with army for democracy

    Myanmar's coup leader used the country's Union Day holiday on Friday to call on people to work with the military if they want democracy, a request likely to be met with derision by protesters who are pushing for the release from detention of their country's elected leaders. “I would seriously urge the entire nation to join hands with the Tatmadaw for the successful realization of democracy,” Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said using the local term for the military. In addition to the military commander's message published Friday in the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, the new junta also announced it would mark Union Day by releasing thousands of prisoners and reducing other inmates’ sentences.

  • Mom tackles man accused of peeping in daughter's window

    Phyllis Pena said she charged at him before he could run away, and held him until police in Lake Jackson, Texas, arrived.

  • Merkel promises lockdown will not last a day longer than necessary

    Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans on Thursday to have a little more patience after agreeing with regional leaders to extend a coronavirus lockdown until March 7 and said restrictions would not last a day longer than necessary. A gradual fall in daily infections has raised pressure for an easing of tight restrictions in place since mid-December and Merkel agreed with state premiers on Wednesday that some schools and hairdressers could open sooner than March 7. With neighbouring countries seeking to contain major outbreaks, Germany will impose stricter controls on people seeking to enter its territory from the Czech Republic and Austria's Tyrol region from Feb. 14, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

  • Warnock Under Investigation for Role in Stacey Abrams’ Voter Registration Org

    Senator Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) is under investigation for his involvement in the New Georgia Project, a voter registration organization founded by Stacey Abrams, which officials say failed to follow state election deadlines in 2019. The Georgia State Election Board voted 3-0 Wednesday to launch an investigation into Warnock’s time as chairman of the board for the New Georgia Project in 2019, when officials say the group violated state election rules that require voting registration organizations to submit completed voter application within ten days after they are received from the voter. Officials say the New Georgia Project submitted 1,268 applications to the Gwinnett County elections office after the ten-day deadline in 2019. The board will refer the investigation to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican. The only Democrat on the board, as well as Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, abstained from the vote. Nse Ufot, the CEO of New Georgia Project, pushed back against the claims in a statement, saying the board meeting was “the first time we heard about the allegations regarding NGP’s important voter registration work from 2019.” “We have not received any information on this matter from the Secretary or any other Georgia official,” Ufot said. In December, Raffensperger announced an investigation into the New Georgia Project and other voter registration groups, alleging that they had “sought to register ineligible, out-of-state, or deceased voters.” Warnock resigned from the New Georgia Project on January 28, 2020. Abrams founded the organization in 2014 and later made an unsuccessful bid for Georgia governor, losing by roughly 55,000 votes to Governor Brian Kemp. She claimed that Kemp, who was then- Georgia secretary of state, had won thanks to voter suppression efforts he implemented during his time in office, such as purging voter roles.

  • Why China may not be cheering Myanmar’s military takeover

    Myanmar’s coup has put a spotlight on its relationship with China. But the military taking back more power isn’t necessarily a plus for Beijing.

  • Calif. couple charged with murder after allegedly burning, beating newborn son

    A California couple has been arrested and charged with inflicting horrible physical abuse on their newborn son, resulting in the infant’s death. RayRay Darn, 35, and Marilyn Northington, 28, are accused of beating and abusing the 5-week-old boy. The baby was allegedly malnourished, dehydrated, covered in bruises and burn marks, and had several broken bones.

  • Mike Pence's 'nuclear football' was also apparently at risk during the Capitol siege

    New security camera footage unveiled Wednesday at former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial showed just how close the mob ransacking the Capitol on Jan. 6 came to nabbing former Vice President Mike Pence and his family. When U.S. Strategic Command saw the footage, CNN reported late Thursday, they realized how close the mob came to Pence's "nuclear football," the backup nuclear launch system a military aide carries near the vice president at all times in case the president is incapacitated. The military officer, apparently seen fleeing down back stairs with Pence and his family, never lost control of the backup "football," and Trump was safe in the White House during the entire period Pence was being hunted down, a defense official told CNN. That means the Pentagon would not have needed to deactivate Pence's nuclear launch system, even if they had been aware it was in danger. And if the insurrectionists had managed to grab the "football," they would not have been able to bypass the security systems, the official added. That's not the point, Kingston Reif of the Arms Control Association told CNN. "The risk associated with the insurrectionists getting their hands on Pence's football wasn't that they could have initiated an unauthorized launch. But had they stolen the football and acquired its contents, which include pre-planned nuclear strike options, they could have shared the contents with the world," creating "a security breach of almost incomprehensible proportions." The people who broke into the Capitol were clearly not opposed to taking home trophies. Florida Man, Helpfully, Includes Closeup Of Barcode On Damaged U.S. Senate Property In His Facebook Post About Storming The U.S. Capitol pic.twitter.com/d5cSXVkkEA — Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) February 11, 2021 Thankfully, we never have to know what they would have done had they found Pence, or his nuclear strike machine. More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.5 brutally funny cartoons about Republicans' twisted impeachment logicWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?

  • Yahoo News reporter asks if White House considers Capitol riot a 'coup'

    White House press secretary Jen Psaski held a briefing on Wednesday and was asked by White House Correspondent Hunter Walker if the administration considers the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol an attempted "coup."

  • Factbox: Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

    The EU hopes to start giving out money from its 750 billion euros coronavirus economic recovery fund before the end of the summer. * France's vaccines chief Alain Fischer told France Info radio that he hoped the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be available in France in April. * Poland is raising the maximum age limit for people receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine to 65, the minister in charge of the vaccination programme said.

  • Cuban official asks Biden's gov't to reconsider sanctions

    A top Cuban official said on Thursday that declassified U.S. documents pointing out deficiencies in the response to health issues reported by American diplomats on the island show some of the falsehoods the Trump administration used to impose measures against Cuba. Johana Tablada, deputy director for U.S. affairs at Cuba's Foreign Ministry, said the new U.S. government should consider reversing measures imposed by Trump against the island after tensions increased because of the health incidents and other issues. Trump's administration officials suggested that Cuba may have been behind the incidents or allowed alleged sonic attacks against the diplomats, something the island has always denied.

  • China bans BBC World News from broadcasting

    China has criticised the BBC for its reports on coronavirus and persecution of the Uighurs.

  • More Inside the Light-Filled Los Feliz Home of Two Art-World Wonders

    Between the collection of gallery owner Nino Mier and his wife and Barbara Gladstone Gallery partner Caroline Luce, there are over 300 works of art.Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest