European stocks see decline with US futures; oil advances

Bloomberg

European stocks dropped with US futures on Thursday as investors weighed the latest signs of the coronavirus’s impact on the global economy and a slew of corporate earnings. Crude oil rose to about $15 a barrel in New York.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index quickly erased its opening gain as an estimate of private-sector activity in the euro area plunged far more than economists had anticipated. Credit Suisse Group AG fluctuated after the bank said first-quarter profitability rose but that it’s taking more than $1 billion in writedowns and provisions for bad loans after the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Contracts on the main US equity benchmarks turned lower as traders awaited the latest weekly American unemployment numbers due Thursday. Asian stocks saw modest gains. Crude futures advanced in the wake of President Donald Trump’s order to the Navy to destroy any Iranian gun boats that harass American ships at sea. The dollar held three
days of gains versus its major counterparts.
Investors will be watching Thursday’s US jobless claims for the latest sign of the coronavirus’s impact, with the median expectation being for 4.5 million new applicants. While a gauge of global equities is up about 22% from its March closing low, chaos in the oil market, poor European data and a mixed bag of corporate earnings suggest a more
crippled global economy.
On the virus front, New York deaths were at the lowest rate since early April, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he anticipates most of the economy will restart by the end of August. House lawmakers on Thursday are set to pass another round of aid.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.3% as of 9:06 am London time. Germany’s DAX Index decreased 0.7% and futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 0.3%. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.8%.
While the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed, the euro dipped 0.2% to $1.0801 and the British pound was little changed at $1.2331. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 107.57 per
dollar.
While the yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced less than one basis point to 0.62%, Britain’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to 0.326% and the spread of Italy’s 10-year bonds over Germany’s decreased three basis points to 2.458 percentage points.
West Texas Intermediate crude increased 7.5% to $14.81 a barrel and Brent crude advanced 5.8% to $21.55 a barrel. While gold strengthened 0.3% to $1,719.81 an ounce, copper gained 0.1% to $2.31 a pound.