Global stocks, equity futures climb; dollar edges lower

Bloomberg

US equity futures and global stocks pushed higher on Monday after President Donald Trump signed a coronavirus stimulus package.
S&P 500 contracts climbed after Trump backed down from last-minute demands and approved the combined $2.3 trillion Covid-19 relief and government funding package. Germany’s DAX Index climbed to a record and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was up 0.4%.
The dollar ticked lower with Treasuries.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. slid in Hong Kong despite boosting its share buyback program to $10 billion, amid ongoing concern over China’s inquiry into alleged monopolistic practices. Chinese regulators over the weekend ordered affiliate Ant Group Co. to return to its roots as a provider of payments services, a development that threatens to clip its growth.
In cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin kept rallying over the festive break, surging past $28,000 on Sunday for the first time before retreating.
The signing of the US legislation averts a further delay in stimulus and bolsters some of the optimism that drove global stocks to a record this month even as the pandemic escalates. In approving the bill, Trump also demanded a vote in Congress to replace the planned $600 in direct stimulus payments with $2,000 — a non-binding request that is unlikely to pass both chambers.
The stimulus “could be supportive of the market, supportive of the US economy,” said Suresh Tantia, strategist at Credit Suisse Group AG. “Next year all the building blocks are there for markets to continue this rally.”
On the coronavirus front, more restrictions are being imposed to fight the spread of the new, more infectious strain. Japan is among the latest to act, banning the entry of most foreigners through the end of January. Meanwhile, the European Union kicked off a continent-wide vaccination campaign less than a week after clearing a shot developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.
Elsewhere, the pound fluctuated after the UK last week clinched an historic Brexit trade deal with the European Union. Oil advanced and gold was little changed.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index gained 0.7% as of 9:45 am London time and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.6%.
While the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.3% the MSCI Emerging Market Index was little changed.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index falls 0.3% to 1,123.50 and the euro rose 0.4% to $1.2241.
While the British pound declined 0.1% to $1.3546, the Japanese yen was little changed at 103.47 per dollar.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained three basis points to 0.95% and the yield on two-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 0.11%.
While Germany’s 10-year yield gained less than one basis point to -0.55%, Britain’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 0.257%. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.1% to $48.85 a barrel and gold was little changed at $1,882.67 an ounce.