Stocks were mixed and US equity futures were steady as investors balanced further signs of China’s reopening with cautious commentary from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.
(Bloomberg) — Stocks were mixed and US equity futures were steady as investors balanced further signs of China’s reopening with cautious commentary from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.
European shares pared declines, with a report showing euro-area producer prices fell more than expected in November. Declines in insurers offset gains in retailers after Next Plc raised its profit forecast. Contracts on the S&P 500 was little changed, paring losses of as much as 0.5% earlier. Amazon.com Inc. rose in premarket trading after saying it will lay off more than 18,000 employees.
In Asia, a rally in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong equity gauges was helped by news the border with China will gradually reopen.
Investors are looking to a private US jobs report later today and nonfarm payrolls on Friday for clues on the labor market and its implications for monetary policy, after Fed minutes showed officials cautioned against underestimating their will to keep interest rates high for some time. While US stocks pared gains after the minutes, traders are still pricing in rate cuts by end-2023.
“No one talked about a rate cut in the foreseeable future, even though pricing in the market still shows that investors continue to bet that the Fed will start cutting rates before the end of this year,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. “Yes, there are some data pointing at slowing economic activity in the US, but the jobs market – which is closely watched by the Fed – remains surprisingly tight.”
The dollar was steady, while Treasuries gave up some of the prior day’s gains.
Elsewhere, crude oil rose after falling 9.5% in the past two days. The yen steadied after a 1.2% decline against the dollar on Wednesday.
Read More: Fed Affirms Inflation Resolve, Pushes Back Against Rate-Cut Bets
Key events this week:
- US ADP employment change, initial jobless claims, Thursday
- China trade, Caixin PMI, Thursday
- Eurozone retail sales, CPI, consumer confidence, Friday
- Germany factory orders, Friday
- US nonfarm payrolls, factory orders, durable goods, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed as of 10:08 a.m. London time
- S&P 500 futures were little changed
- Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
- The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0618
- The Japanese yen was little changed at 132.59 per dollar
- The offshore yuan rose 0.3% to 6.8796 per dollar
- The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2028
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin was little changed at $16,809.99
- Ether fell 0.2% to $1,249.52
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 3.71%
- Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.31%
- Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 3.51%
Commodities
- Brent crude rose 2.7% to $79.91 a barrel
- Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,848.06 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Charlotte Yang, Nicholas Reynolds, Richard Henderson and Sagarika Jaisinghani.
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