U.S. Stock Futures Climb After Yuan Fix Stronger Than Expected

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock index futures rose for a third day after China’s central bank set its daily fixing stronger than expected, tempering concerns that the nations’ trade war will worsen.

S&P 500 Index futures contracts expiring in September gained 0.5% at 2:17 p.m. in Tokyo, rebounding from an earlier 0.4% loss, after the People’s Bank of China set its daily reference rate at 7.0039 per dollar. Analysts and traders had projected a rate of 7.0156, according to the average of 21 forecasts compiled by Bloomberg in a survey. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded as much as 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.

“If the Chinese government intervenes less and lets the currency find its own level, it’s actually better from a reputational point of view,” Nader Naeimi, AMP Capital’s head of dynamic markets in Sydney, said on Bloomberg Television.

The bounce in Asia came after U.S. equities and benchmark Treasury yields mounted an impressive comeback late Wednesday, reversing sharp drops as investors turned more positive on the outlook for global growth amid central-bank moves to ease monetary policy. The S&P 500 Index eked out a modest gain after tumbling as much as 2%, while yields on 10-year Treasuries edged higher after an earlier plunge.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jackie Edwards in Sydney at jedwards160@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lianting Tu at ltu4@bloomberg.net, Naoto Hosoda, Kurt Schussler

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