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U.S. Stocks Start Week Higher With Bank Boost: Markets Wrap

Asia Stocks Face Mixed Start; Dollar Holds Loss: Markets Wrap

U.S. Stocks Start Week Higher With Bank Boost: Markets Wrap
The bell used when introducing new stocks stands in front of the stocks quotations’ screen in Shenzhen Stock Exchange, in Shenzhen, China. (Photographer Lucas Schifres/Bloomberg News)

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock indexes got a boost from bank shares in an otherwise lackluster session as investors digested warnings from the world’s financial leaders about the impact of protectionism on growth. Gains were extended in after-market trading as Alphabet Inc.’s sales topped estimates.

The S&P 500 Index started the week higher, with financials leading the gainers amid below-average trading volume. Amazon.com pulled consumer discretionary stocks lower after President Donald Trump renewed his public campaign against Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post. West Texas crude see-sawed as Trump’s warnings to his Iranian counterpart were offset by a strengthening dollar. Treasuries slipped.

An exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 climbed about 0.5 percent after the 4 p.m. close in New York, helped by a rally in Google parent Alphabet. Surprisingly strong sales from the search-engine operator helped assuage concerns spurred by Netflix Inc.’s results last week.

The world’s finance chiefs over the weekend said global growth remains robust and many emerging-market countries are better prepared to face crises, but risks to the world economy have increased. Also rattling investors, Trump took issue with the yuan’s six-week slide to the weakest level in more than year, raising concern that the America-China trade war is now spilling over into currency markets. The heated rhetoric is offsetting a mixed earnings season, keeping the S&P 500 hovering around 2,800.

“Many eyes are focused here given that it’s a round number and that it’s proven to be impregnable since breaking below it in February,” Frank Cappelleri, senior equity trader and market technician at Instinet LLC, wrote in a message. “Given the plethora of earnings coming this week, there’s little reason to force the issue from either side thus far.”

He added: “Simply holding steady in the face of all of this would be a net positive.”

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed lower after sudden changes in leadership at Fiat Chrysler hit carmakers, while travel companies also declined after Ryanair posted a 20 percent decline in first-quarter profit.

In Asia, Japan’s 10-year government bonds plunged, sending the yield up the most in almost two years. The yuan slipped. Emerging-market stocks were little changed. Bitcoin pushed higher.

U.S. Stocks Start Week Higher With Bank Boost: Markets Wrap

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Here are some key events coming up this week:

  • Earnings season continues with the following tech companies among those reporting: Facebook, AT&T, Amazon.com, Twitter, Advanced Micro Devices, Qualcomm and Intel. They are joined by global financial giants Deutsche Bank, UBS, Nomura and Visa. Others include Halliburton, Michelin, Boeing, Lockheed, Nissan and Shell.
  • Pakistan holds national elections Wednesday.
  • European Central Bank’s policy decision Thursday.
  • U.S. gross domestic product probably increased by about 4 percent at an annualized rate in the second quarter, the most since 2014, economists forecast ahead of Friday’s data.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • The S&P 500 Index gained 0.2 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
  • The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2 percent to its lowest in a week.
  • The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.3 percent, the biggest fall in a week.
  • The MSCI Emerging Market Index decreased less than 0.05 percent.

Currencies

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.1 percent.
  • The euro fell 0.2 percent $1.1697.
  • The British pound declined 0.2 percent to $1.3106.
  • The Japanese yen gained less than 0.05 percent to 111.40 per dollar.

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained six basis points to 2.96 percent, the highest in more than a month.
  • Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 1.272 percent.
  • Germany’s 10-year yield climbed four basis points to 0.41 percent, the highest in over five weeks.
  • Japan’s 10-year yield gained five basis points to 0.086 percent, the the largest rise in almost two years.

Commodities

  • West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7 percent to $67.80 a barrel, the first retreat in a week.
  • Gold declined 0.3 percent to $1,225.31 an ounce.
  • LME copper dropped 0.3 percent to $6,130 a metric ton.

--With assistance from Katherine Greifeld, Mark Cranfield, Adam Haigh, Andreea Papuc, Cecile Gutscher, Matthew Miller, Cecile Vannucci and Eddie van der Walt.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Ponczek in New York at sponczek2@bloomberg.net;Olivia Schaber in New York at oschaber1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Andrew Dunn

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.