(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks rose early Monday as traders sought to take advantage of last week’s selloff while weighing risks from the delta virus strain and China’s regulatory curbs. The dollar was firm.
Shares climbed in Japan, South Korea and Australia. U.S. equity futures edged higher after an advance in the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 at the end of last week. Beijing’s clampdown on private industries is set to shadow the market open in China and Hong Kong later.
The dollar held its recent advance on haven demand due to the impact of the delta variant. Treasuries were little changed ahead of the Jackson Hole symposium from Thursday, which may offer insights into how the Federal Reserve plans to taper bond purchases.
The recent weakness in commodities such as crude oil remains in focus. Crude edged up and was trading above $62 a barrel. Bitcoin was close to retaking $50,000 for the first time since mid-May.
The delta variant and the prospect of reduced central bank support have sowed doubts about the world economic recovery and led to a pause in the global equity rally. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said he’s open to adjusting his view that the Fed should start tapering its asset-purchase program sooner rather than later if the delta strain persists and hurts economic progress.
“Markets react to interest-rate hikes much more than tapering and we expect a pause between tapering and the first hike, suggesting liftoff in 2023 and not before,” Esty Dwek, head of global market strategy at Natixis Investment Managers, wrote in a note. The pandemic is still with us and growth will soften into 2022, she added.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen endorsed Jerome Powell for a second term as Fed chair, a move that could reduce uncertainty about the path for monetary policy amid risks from inflation and the coronavirus.
Australia and New Zealand are reviewing their strategies of eliminating Covid-19 infections, with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it’s highly unlikely his country will ever return to zero cases.
Here are some events to watch this week:
U.S. Markit manufacturing PMI and existing home sales MondayBank of Korea policy decision; briefing by Governor Lee Ju-yeol ThursdayFed officials attend the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium from Thursday through SaturdayU.S. GDP, initial jobless claims ThursdayJuly U.S. personal income and spending data Friday. Investors will scrutinize the personal consumption expenditures price index, an inflation measure closely watched by the Fed.
For more market analysis read our MLIV blog.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 9:20 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% FridayNasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.1%Japan’s Topix index rose 1.4%Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.3%South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.4%Hang Seng Index futures increased 0.8% earlier
Currencies
The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.84 per dollarThe offshore yuan was at 6.4998 per dollarThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changedThe euro was at $1.1698
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 1.26%Australia’s 10-year bond yield was steady at 1.09%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude was at $62.42 a barrel, up 0.5%Gold dipped 0.1% to $1,778.65
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