Futures Waver With Europe Stocks; Dollar Advances: Markets Wrap

 

 

 

 

 

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.2% as of 7:27 p.m. New York time.
• Nasdaq 100 Index futures decreased 0.1%.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.7%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.3%.
• The euro dipped 0.6% to $1.1792.
• The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 105.68 per dollar.
• The Turkish lira strengthened 1.1% to 7.222 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 0.64%.
• The yield on two-year Treasuries advanced less than one basis point to 0.14%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.208%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield decreased one basis point to -0.51%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude declined 1.2% to $42.31 a barrel.
• Gold weakened 0.9% to $1,930.46 an ounce.
• Silver weakened 1.4% to $26.87 per ounce.
• Iron ore dipped 2% to $121.36 per metric ton.

U.S. futures fluctuated before turning lower as faith in the technology-led rally and a virus-vaccine breakthrough faltered amid concerns over mixed economic data.

Semiconductor and healthcare shares led early gains in the U.S. premarket, from drugmakers Novartis AG and Pfizer Inc. to tech firms Prosus NV and Dassault Systemes. Equipment maker Deere & Co., a bellwether stock, jumped after increasing its profit guidance. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 swung between modest ups and downs after setting a fresh record high Thursday. The Stoxx Europe 600 index erased an advance.

The dollar gained against a basket of its peers and the single currency weakened after the euro-area economy unexpectedly lost momentum this month. Treasuries advanced along with German bunds. Gold slipped alongside crude oil.

Appetite for risk assets has so far endured in a bumpy northern hemisphere summer. With dollar weakness well into its fourth month, speculation that Internet and software companies are played out is still slow to materialize. Vaccine news buoyed investor sentiment on Friday after Pfizer and BioNTech SE said their coronavirus inoculation is headed to regulators as early as October.

U.S. tech darlings “continue to mask the broader concerns spearheading an end-of-week rally,” said Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana, head of research at Johannesburg-based Rand Merchant Bank. “Wider credit spreads and bond bidding suggest an air of nervousness is starting to creep in.”

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased on Thursday, with initial jobless claims climbing to more than 1.1 million. The report reinforces forecasts that improvement in the labor market will occur in fits and starts, with the latest uptick likely representing a pause in that recovery — rather than a substantial change in direction.

Joe Biden accepted his party’s nomination Thursday to challenge President Donald Trump in a speech that cast November’s election as not merely the choice of a president but a fundamental referendum on the nation’s character.

Elsewhere, Turkey’s lira gained amid speculation President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will announce a major Turkish energy discovery in the Black Sea later Friday.

Earlier in the day, stocks climbed in Hong Kong, Japan and China, The offshore yuan rose to its strongest level in seven months against the dollar, as China’s economic and market rebound from the pandemic has proved one of the world’s fastest.