Hong Kong Stocks Lead Asia Higher; Gold Slips: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose, led by gains in Hong Kong, amid signs of a thawing in U.S.-China tensions from the Trump administration and as investors await a policy speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later this week.

Hong Kong shares climbed more than 1.5%, with WeChat owner Tencent Holdings Ltd. rising almost 4%. President Donald Trump’s team is reportedly privately seeking to reassure U.S. companies that they can still do business with the WeChat messaging app in China. Equities in South Korea, Japan and China were also higher along with European equity futures. S&P 500 contracts rose modestly after U.S. shares ended Friday with a fourth week of gains. Gold began the week on the back foot. New Zealand bonds advanced after the central bank fell short of its quantitative easing buying target. Treasuries and the dollar were steady.

Governments continue to tread a fine line between easing lockdowns to revive growth and controlling any resurgence of virus cases. The pandemic passed two milestones: 800,000 deaths and 23 million cases. U.S. infections showed signs of stabilization but concern is growing in Europe and parts of Asia.

The Fed’s annual Economic Policy Symposium — typically held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming — is set for Aug. 27-28 via livestream. Powell takes the virtual stage on Thursday to speak about the Fed’s long-awaited monetary policy framework review, which has focused on a new inflation strategy.

“More clarity will no doubt be sought via this week’s Jackson Hole Symposium,” said Ben Emons, managing director for global macro strategy at Medley Global Advisors. “Meanwhile, we expect the enforcement meeting to proceed smoothly within the next several weeks,” he said, referring to the expected U.S.-China trade pact review that was delayed earlier this month.

Meantime, storms Marco and Laura rolled toward the U.S. Gulf Coast, where they’ll come ashore as hurricanes as soon as Monday. The threat prompted evacuations of off-shore energy platforms and set residents and officials on edge from Texas to Florida.

Here are some key events coming up:

Earnings from companies including, ICBC, PetroChina, HP Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Best Buy and Dollar General.The U.S. Republican National Convention takes place, with President Donald Trump speaking the final day, Aug. 27.The Bank of Korea sets monetary policy and will hold a briefing on Thursday.Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at event on Thursday.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures advanced 0.3% as of 11:54 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge rose 0.3% on Friday.Japan’s Topix index added 0.2%.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.6%.Shanghai Composite gained 0.2%.South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9%.Euro Stoxx 50 futures gained 0.5%.

Currencies

The yen was at 105.78 per dollar, little changed.The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.The euro bought $1.1796, little changed.The offshore yuan traded at 6.9144 per dollar, up 0.1%.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at 0.63%.Australia’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 0.86%.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $42.41 a barrel.Gold fell 0.2% to $1,936.01 an ounce.

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