U.S. Futures Rise With Stocks as Bond Yields Slip: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. futures rose with stocks on Thursday as investors cheered solid earnings reports and awaited key economic data. Treasury yields fell.

Contracts on the S&P 500 advanced 0.4% after the underlying index eased back from an all-time high on Wednesday. Bank of America Corp. and other financial stocks rose in the U.S. pre-market after the lender posted better-than-expected trading revenue. Meanwhile, BlackRock Inc. said its assets under management rose to a record $9 trillion in the first quarter.

European equities climbed as electrical power firm ABB Ltd. boosted its sales guidance and miners rallied. The ruble slid as the Biden administration looked poised to take action against Russian individuals and entities in retaliation for alleged misconduct related to the SolarWinds hack and the U.S. election.

Expectations of a strong economic recovery, combined with optimism over monetary and fiscal stimulus, have pushed equities near record levels as company reporting continues. Data due Thursday on U.S. jobless claims and retail sales will be keenly watched, as will any developments on the vaccine rollout.

“We are probably entering the last stage of the pricing of the growth acceleration, and we see encouraging signs suggesting the ‘reflationary’ environment can continue and be supportive for risky assets in the near term,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists led by Alessio Rizzi wrote in a note. “Across assets we continue to prefer equity over credit, and favor a pro-cyclical stance within equity.”

Elsewhere, Bitcoin was steady and Coinbase Global Inc. climbed 9.4% in pre-market trading following news that three funds at Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management bought shares. Oil declined after Wednesday’s surge.

In Asia, the Chinese central bank’s liquidity operations signaled it’s seeking to contain rising leverage, prompting declines in the nation’s equities and in Hong Kong shares.

Some key events to watch this week:

• U.S. data including initial jobless claims, industrial production and retail sales come Thursday.
• China economic growth, industrial production and retail sales figures are on Friday.

These are some of the main moves in financial markets:

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.5% as of 6:39 a.m. New York time.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.3%.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4%.
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index climbed 0.3%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
• The euro sank 0.1% to $1.1967.
• The British pound was little changed at $1.3783.
• The onshore yuan strengthened 0.1% to 6.527 per dollar.
• The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 108.82 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank two basis points to 1.62%.
• The yield on two-year Treasuries decreased less than one basis point to 0.16%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to -0.27%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 0.782%.
• Japan’s 10-year yield dipped less than one basis point to 0.09%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.5% to $62.81 a barrel.
• Brent crude dipped 0.4% to $66.29 a barrel.
• Gold strengthened 0.5% to $1,745.81 an ounce.

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