(Bloomberg) — U.S. equity futures rose Thursday and stocks were steady amid improved investor sentiment following a surge in Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and more pledges of economic support from China.
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Contracts for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed 1%, while those for the S&P 500 were also in the green. Shares in Japan, Australia and South Korea fluctuated. The U.S. stock market posted a modest gain at the close Wednesday.
Meta surged 18% in extended trading after Facebook’s main social network added more users than projected. That brightened the mood toward megacap U.S. tech stocks and bolstered the biggest ETF that tracks the Nasdaq 100.
Treasury yields dipped as investors calibrated risks from high inflation and aggressive Federal Reserve policy tightening. A dollar gauge advanced.
Meanwhile, Chinese stocks traded in the U.S. climbed the most since early April after Beijing stepped up pledges of economic support amid Covid lockdowns.
The latest development came from China’s cabinet, which vowed to stabilize employment. Officials have already committed to more infrastructure projects and signaled further support from monetary-policy.
Volatility remains the watchword in markets, stoked by China’s struggle to suppress Covid, Russia’s war in Ukraine and worries that Fed tightening may tip the world’s largest economy into a recession. There are lingering hopes that robust U.S. corporate earnings could improve the mood.
“The uncertainty factor is some of the highest we’ve seen in the course of the last number of years,” Kate Moore, BlackRock global allocation team head of thematic strategy, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “There are so many crosscurrents. And against that backdrop, it’s hard to see volatility come down dramatically.”
Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan is expected to keep its main monetary settings unchanged, even as the yen’s rapid weakening to a two-decade low fuels market speculation about a possible adjustment to policy or messaging.
In commodities, oil was close to $102 a barrel. The market is struggling to find direction amid Germany’s support for a gradual ban on Russian crude and bearish headwinds created by China’s lockdowns.
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Events to watch this week:
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Tech earnings include Amazon, Apple
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EIA oil inventory report, Wednesday
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Bank of Japan monetary policy decision, Thursday
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U.S. 1Q GDP, weekly jobless claims, Thursday
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ECB publishes its economic bulletin, Thursday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
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S&P 500 futures rose 0.6% as of 9:25 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 rose 0.2%
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Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.1%. The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
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Japan’s Topix index advanced 0.3%
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Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.7%
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South Korea’s Kospi was steady
Currencies
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
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The euro was at $1.0547
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The Japanese yen traded at 128.48 per dollar
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The offshore yuan was at 6.5908 per dollar
Bonds
Commodities
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West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $101.54 a barrel
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Gold was at $1,885.40 an ounce
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