BOSTON (Reuters) – Asian equities were set for a largely flat start on Friday as markets waited for a break in Wall Street’s multiple source for several months and awaited the release of Chinese economic data later in the year. the session.
FILE PHOTO: A visitor wearing a protective face mask, after an outbreak of the coronavirus, walks past for a share ticket outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan March 2, 2020. REUTERS / Issei Kato
Australian S & P / ASX 200 futures were down 0.05%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.06% after the Nikkei 225 index closed at 1.78% on Thursday. The futures contract is 0.11% down from that close. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index Futures were down 0.13%.
The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Thursday after briefly trading above its record-closing high for a second day, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also dipped in the throat of a disappointing forecast from Cisco Systems Inc. The Nasdaq Composite, boosted by Apple Inc., nudged higher.
Wall Street’s hesitation came as U.S. lawmakers continued to fight over a new economic stimulus package and after a report from the U.S. Department of Labor found that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell below one million last week for the first time since the beginning of the COVID- 19 pandemic – not enough to change the perceptions of economists that the job market recovery is faltering.
“Many say the best treatment for altitude sickness is to stop and rest where you are,” wrote Rodrigo Catril, Senior FX Strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney, in a note on the slight decline in US equities and government bonds.
E-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.13%. MSCI’s worldwide stock measurement is up 0.04%.
The dollar index fell 0.141%. The Japanese yen weakened 0.03% against the greenback at 106.96 per dollar; The Australian dollar rose 0.03% against the greenback at $ 0.715 and the offshore Chinese yuan weakened to 6.9485 per dollar.
Joseph Capurso, head of international economics at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, said economic data expected later on Friday from China would drive trade in the Australian dollar and Chinese currency.
“We expect retail sales in July, industrial production and investment in fixed assets will all point to a continued robust recovery in China,” he wrote. “The Chinese-led commodity-heavy recovery in the global economy supports commodity currencies such as AUD.”
Benchmark US Treasury yields rose to seven-week highs on Thursday after the Treasury sold a record 30-year bonds to weak demand. Ten-year yields were last at 0.718%, after earlier reaching 0.727%, the highest since June 24th. They are up 0.504% last Thursday, which was the lowest since March 9th.
Oil prices declined on Thursday after a weaker demand forecast, but the weak dollar limited losses as traders kept an eye on U.S. stimulus heads. US crude was up 0.24% to $ 42.34 a barrel, while Brent closed Thursday’s session at $ 44.96.
Spot gold added 0.3% to $ 1,958.07 an ounce.
Report by Lawrence Delevingne in Boston
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