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Bloomberg
Stocks edged lower with US equity futures on Thursday as investors sought fresh catalysts for gains amid a rising numbers of coronavirus infections in some countries. Treasuries advanced.
The Stoxx Europe 600 opened in the red, with travel shares and miners leading declines. Contracts on the main US equity benchmarks came off their lows earlier in the session to trade modestly down. Asian stocks mostly declined in thin trading amid a cluster of infections in Beijing that emerged after a lull of nearly two months.
The picture for global markets remains complex in the wake of an epic stock rally from March lows. As countries emerge from lockdowns, fears of a second wave are increasing, with Texas reporting an 11% surge in hospitalisations and China battling its worst outbreak since Wuhan. Investors are balancing that with positive economic news, as well as a flood of promised stimulus measures. Politics is back in the picture too, after newspapers published summaries of a widely anticipated book critical of President Donald Trump.
The yuan ticked up and Chinese shares pared losses after China’s central bank governor said he wants the flow of credit in the economy to increase to at least 30 trillion yuan ($4.2 trillion) this year.
Elsewhere, Australian equities underperformed and the country’s dollar fell after the country reported a much bigger decline in employment than forecast for May. Crude oil prices retreated.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 0.3% as of 8:09 am London time and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4%.
While the MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.1%, the MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.1%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.1% and the euro climbed 0.1% to $1.1252.
While the British pound sank 0.1% to $1.2538, the onshore yuan strengthened 0.1% to 7.077 per dollar and the Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 106.88 per dollar.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 0.71% and the yield on two-year Treasuries decreased less than one basis point to 0.19%.
While Germany’s 10-year yield dipped less than one basis point to -0.40%, Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.177% and Japan’s 10-year yield dipped less than one basis point to 0.018%.
As West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.3% to $37.84 a barrel, Brent crude was little changed at $40.73 a barrel and gold weakened 0.1% to $1,725.75 an ounce.