U.S. Futures Drift as Earnings Roll In; Oil Slips

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. equity futures drifted on Monday and stocks in Europe edged higher as traders showed caution over the latest batch of corporate earnings. Treasuries steadied with the dollar.

Futures on the S&P 500 and Dow indexes fluctuated as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. missed estimates for sales and trading revenue, sending its shares lower in pre-market trading, while Citigroup Inc. revenue matched expectations. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index traded in a tight range, as losses in mining shares offset increases in media and insurance. The euro strengthened for a second day. In Asia, equities approached a fresh six-month high, propelled by markets in Japan and Korea, following the People’s Bank of China’s release of upbeat credit data late Friday.

With Chinese trade and lending data showing signs of improvement for the world’s second-biggest economy, investors are turning to the U.S. earnings season to confirm the resilience of corporate America in the face of numerous challenges to growth. JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted strong first-quarter results last week, and Bank of America Corp. is up on Tuesday.

“You might say we’ve had this great bull recovery since the end of last year,” said Edmund Shing, global head of equity derivative strategy at BNP Paribas. “On the other hand, investors have not loaded up at all. That tells me this is somewhat fragile.’’

Central banks remain in the picture, with President Donald Trump renewing his attack on the Fed leadership over the weekend, saying the stock market would be “5,000 to 10,000” points higher had it not been for the actions of U.S. policy makers.

Elsewhere, West Texas oil contracts slipped after the longest run of weekly gains in three years as a report showed increased U.S. oil-rig activity. Emerging market stocks pared early gains, while still heading for the 12th increase in 13 sessions. In currencies, Korea’s won jump the most since January.

Here are some notable events coming up:

• Earnings season rolls on this week, with reports due from: Bank of America, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, American Express, Johnson & Johnson, Netflix, IBM, United Continental, PepsiCo, Honeywell, Alcoa and Taiwan Semiconductor.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia releases the minutes of its latest rate-decision meeting Tuesday.
• Wednesday brings China GDP, industrial production and retail sales data.
• Stock markets will be closed for Easter holidays in countries including the U.S., U.K. and Germany on Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1 percent as of 8:30 a.m. New York time.
• Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined less than 0.05 percent to 2,912.25.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.5 percent, the largest gain in more than a week.
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index advanced less than 0.05 percent.
• Topix index gained 1.4 percent with the first advance in more than a week.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell less than 0.05 percent to 1,192.18.
• The euro climbed 0.1 percent to the strongest in more than three weeks.
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index advanced 0.1 percent to the highest in more than three weeks.
• The South Korean Won rose 0.6 percent.

Bonds

• The yield on two-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 2.40 percent, the highest in more than three weeks.
• The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell less than one basis point to 2.56 percent.
• Germany’s 10-year yield climbed two basis points to 0.07 percent, the highest in almost four weeks.

Commodities

• Gold declined 0.4 percent to $1,285.03 an ounce, the weakest in more than 11 weeks.
• Brent crude fell 0.8 percent to $70.95 a barrel.
• Platinum dipped 1.6 percent to $884.40 an ounce, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in more than two weeks.

--With assistance from Elena Popina, Sarah Ponczek and Adam Haigh.

To contact the reporter on this story: Todd White in Madrid at twhite2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Yakob Peterseil

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