Stock market today: Dow, S&P Live updates for August 24, 2020

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Equities and S&P 500 equity futures increased on signs of an advance in coronavirus treatments and a deep in US-China relations.

BT Group rose 8% to lead gains in the Europe Stoxx 600 index, and Asian stocks fought forward. Hong Kong stocks have performed better, supported by a rally in WeChat owner Tencent Holdings Ltd. The 10-year yield on New Zealand bonds fell to a record low after the central bank fell short of its quantitatively required purchase target. Treasuries and the dollar were stable.

People familiar with the matter said that President Donald Trump’s team is privately seeking to trust American companies that they can still do business with the WeChat messaging app in China. Over the weekend, Trump also moved to expand access to a virus treatment that includes blood plasma from recovering patients.

Governments are drawing a fine line between reducing lockdowns to resume growth and controlling recurrence of virus falls. The pandemic went through two milestones: 800,000 dead and 23 million cases. U.S. infections showed signs of stabilization, but the concern is growing in Europe and parts of Asia.

The Federal Reserve is holding its annual economic policy symposium – typically held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming – on August 27-28 via livestream. President Jerome Powell took the virtual stage on Thursday to discuss the long-awaited evaluation of the framework of the Fed’s monetary policy, which has focused on a new inflation strategy.

“More clarity will no doubt be sought through this week’s Jackson Hole Symposium,” said Ben Emons, Executive Director for Global Macro Strategy at Medley Global Advisors. “Meanwhile, we expect the enforcement meeting to continue smoothly over the next few weeks,” he said, referring to the expected review of the US-China trade pact that was postponed earlier this month.

Meanwhile, storms Marco and Laura roll toward the U.S. Gulf Coast, where they come ashore Monday as hurricanes. The threat prompted evacuations of energy platforms offshore and put residents and officials on the edge of Texas to Florida.

Here are some important events to come:

• Acquisitions of companies including, ICBC, PetroChina, HP Inc., Royal Bank of Canada, Best Buy and Dollar General.
• The U.S. Republican National Convention is taking place, with President Donald Trump speaking on the last day, August 27th.
• The Bank of Korea sets monetary policy and will hold a briefing on Thursday.
• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at events on Thursday.

These are the main movements in markets:

Shares

• Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.6% from 8:32 am time in London.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1.4%.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7%.
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.9%.

Currency

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
• The euro rose 0.1% to $ 1.1811.
• The British pound did not change much at $ 1.3091.
• The Japanese yen did not change much at 105.83 per dollar.
• The offshore yuan strengthened 0.2% to 6.9092 per dollar.

Bonds

• The 10-year yield on Treasury gained less than one basis point to 0.63%.
• The two-year Treasury yield gained less than one basis point to 0.15%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield jumped one basis point to -0.50%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield fell less than one basis point to 0.203%.
• Japanese yield of 10 years fell one basis point to 0.027%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% to $ 42.64 per barrel.
• Brent crude climbed 0.9% to $ 44.67 a barrel.
• Gold strengthened 0.4% to $ 1,947.40 an ounce.