US Futures Mixed; Europe Stocks Rise Before ECB: Markets Wrap - Yahoo Finance

U.S. Futures Mixed; Europe Stocks Rise Before ECB: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. equity futures were mixed on Thursday amid a cloudy picture for corporate earnings, while European stocks climbed ahead of a meeting of the region’s central bank. German government bonds rose with Treasuries.

Contracts on the S&P 500 were little changed while those on the Nasdaq slid following Tesla’s worse-than-expected quarterly loss and another major management change. The Stoxx Europe 600 advanced though pared some of its gains, with health care shares the top performers after earnings for AstraZeneca and Roche beat estimates. Most major indexes in Asia advanced, though Korean stocks declined for a second day.

Germany’s 30-year bond yield fell to a record on deteriorating business confidence. The euro drifted with the dollar, while Turkey’s lira fluctuated after the central bank cut its key rate by the most on record.

Earnings have been broadly positive for stocks, but worries still linger over trade and a slowing global economy. All eyes turn to the ECB Thursday, and while most bets are that policy makers will tweak guidance and wait until September to adjust policy, some analysts see a chance of rate change after weak data. And it’s another busy day for earnings, with several major U.S. companies due to report.

“Our clients are really struggling with what to do,” Christine Hurtsellers, chief executive officer at Voya Investment Management, told Bloomberg TV. “When you think about the Fed and the pivot and just seeing interest rates go down, clients have this tension of needing to stay invested, needing to earn some kind of return, but fearful that equities look overvalued.”

Elsewhere, Australia’s dollar hit its low of the session and benchmark bond yields touched a record low after Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe said he was prepared to cut interest rates again if needed. Crude oil recovered some of the previous session’s losses.

Here are some key events coming up:

Earnings season rolls on with companies including Amazon.com, Alphabet and McDonald’s still to report this week.Thursday brings the European Central Bank policy decision. ECB President Mario Draghi holds a briefing afterward.U.S. gross domestic product figures due Friday may show business investment posted the first decline in three years.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 Index dipped less than 0.05% as of 7:21 a.m. New York time.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.1%, reaching the highest in three weeks on its fifth consecutive advance.The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.5%, the highest in more than a week.The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.3%, the highest in more than a week.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.The euro gained less than 0.05% to $1.1143, the first advance in a week.The British pound climbed 0.1% to $1.2497.The onshore yuan dipped less than 0.05% to 6.873 per dollar.The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 108.07 per dollar, the largest advance in a week.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased one basis point to 2.03%, the lowest in a week.The yield on two-year Treasuries decreased one basis point to 1.80%, the lowest in a week.Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.39%, reaching the lowest in three weeks on its seventh straight decline.Japan’s 10-year yield dipped less than one basis point to -0.151%, reaching the lowest in almost three weeks on its ninth straight decline.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 1.1% to $56.47 a barrel, the largest surge in more than two weeks.Iron ore rose 0.9% to $112.15 per metric ton.Gold increased less than 0.05% to $1,426.48 an ounce, the highest in a week.

--With assistance from Andreea Papuc and John Ainger.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Curtis in London at lcurtis7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Samuel Potter at spotter33@bloomberg.net, Yakob Peterseil

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

Let's block ads! (Why?)