Stocks, U.S. Futures Hold Gains Amid Low Volumes: Markets Wrap
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(Bloomberg) -- Global stocks and U.S. index futures rose as signs of a solid recovery in the world’s largest economy offset jitters over inflation and a faster tapering of Federal Reserve stimulus.
Trading volumes narrowed around the world as U.S. traders stayed off for the Thanksgiving holiday. The turnover in Asia’s equity benchmark was 17% lower than its 30-day average. It shrank 26% in Europe and 30% in Latin America.
Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes rose 0.1% each, paring advances of as much as 0.4%. MSCI’s benchmark for world stocks rose 0.1%. The dollar was steady at a 16-month high. Remy Cointreau SA jumped 13% in Paris on an earnings beat. Nickel and copper paced a base-metals selloff in London amid an uncertain demand outlook.
U.S. stocks proved resilient to a slew of economic data and Fed minutes on Wednesday that supported expectations for a quicker removal of stimulus by the Fed. While inflation concerns deepened, traders were in no mood to miss a play on the U.S. recovery story. Rising bets not only for a quicker taper, but also an earlier liftoff of interest rates, suggest caution may return after Thanksgiving.
“The market mood is rather OK-ish after the minutes,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote, wrote in a note. “At this point, it makes sense to expect an earlier, and maybe a steeper rate normalization from the Fed.”
European traders shrugged off a worsening Covid-19 situation in the continent. The Stoxx 600 gauge rose the most since Nov. 1, boosted by utilities and real estate companies. Remy Cointreau soared to a record high after the French distiller reported first-half results that Citigroup Inc. called “truly exceptional.”
The dollar remained on course for its fifth weekly rally. Multiple technical patterns, including Fibonacci Retracement, support fundamental drivers helping the currency such as a winding down of excess liquidity in the global markets and concern over a persistent pandemic.
MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific share index snapped a three-day drop. China urged local governments to boost investment to counter a growth slowdown, while the Chinese city of Chengdu sought to ease a cash crunch at property developers. It became the first major local administration to address the liquidity squeeze in the real estate industry, a key component of the economy.
South Korea followed New Zealand in raising interest rates to contain inflation. The won fell amid an uncertain time line for the next hike. The forint posted the biggest gains in emerging markets after Hungary raised the benchmark rate by more than anticipated.
Crude oil posted a small loss after OPEC said a planned coordinated release of reserves by major consuming nations may swell a crude surplus expected early next year.
Friday may also see lower equity volumes as U.S. markets are set to close three hours earlier than usual.
For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.
Here are some key events this week:
- U.S. Thanksgiving Day: U.S. equity, bond markets closed Thursday
- Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey speaks with Mohamed El Erian at a Cambridge Union event. Thursday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 3:38 p.m. New York time
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
- The MSCI World index rose 0.1%
- The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.1%
- The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro was little changed at $1.1208
- The British pound was little changed at $1.3323
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 115.36 per dollar
- The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 6.3877 per dollar
Bonds
- Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.25%
- Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 0.97%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $78.03 a barrel
- Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,790.80 an ounce
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