(Bloomberg) — Most Asian stocks rose Tuesday as Japan extended a rally and traders took heart from indications that the global recovery is weathering challenges from the delta virus variant.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 hit 30,000 for the first time since April as an index reshuffle added to optimism that a new prime minister will usher in favorable policies. China climbed, aided by a continuing rebound in technology stocks and better than expected trade data. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures edged up ahead of a resumption in U.S. markets after a holiday.
Treasury yields pushed higher and dollar dipped. New Zealand’s 10-year yield rose to the highest since April 2019. Oil retreated amid Saudi Arabia’s price cut for Asian buyers and demand threats from the outbreak of the delta variant. Bitcoin topped $52,000. El Salvador bought 400 coins ahead of adopting the cryptocurrency as legal tender on Tuesday.
Australia is due to revisit the question of whether to delay a planned taper of bond purchases as lockdowns sap the nation’s recovery.
Global shares at a record, overcoming concerns that the delta strain is hampering economic reopening and exacerbating supply snarls that are fueling inflation. A weak U.S. jobs report has bolstered the view that the Federal Reserve will delay paring the stimulus that has helped financial markets.
“The delta variant has sort of spooked the markets a little bit,” Sylvia Jablonski, Defiance ETFs chief investment officer and co-founder, said on Bloomberg Television. “Investors have been on the sidelines again. Although the market is rallying there is still a lot of cash that has to be deployed and I think we are going to see some positive results going into the end of the year particularly in the tech names.”
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists revised down their forecast for U.S. expansion this year, in part as the delta variant crimps consumer spending. The Covid-19 death toll is jumping in the world’s largest economy, highlighting vaccination gaps.
What to watch this week:
U.S. President Joe Biden will likely make his choice this week on whether to renominate Fed Chair Jerome Powell to a second termReserve Bank of Australia rate decision TuesdayEl Salvador’s Bitcoin law takes effect, making the virtual currency legal tender, TuesdayDallas Fed President Robert Kaplan holds a virtual town hall discussion WednesdayECB President Christine Lagarde holds a press conference after the bank’s rate decision ThursdayChina PPI, CPI, new yuan loans, money supply, aggregate financing, Thursday
For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures added 0.1% as of 12:18 p.m. in Tokyo.Nasdaq 100 futures increased 0.2%Japan’s Topix index rose 0.9%Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.1%South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.6%Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.8%China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7%Euro Stoxx 50 futures slipped 0.1%
Currencies
The Japanese yen was at 109.76 per dollar, up 0.1%The offshore yuan was at 6.4493 per dollarThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slid 0.1%The euro traded at $1.1880
Bonds
Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields rose about two basis points to 1.34%Australia’s 10-year bond yield rose about one basis point to 1.27%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $69.11 a barrelSpot gold was at $1,824.68 an ounce, up 0.1%
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