Stocks, futures climb on China, rates optimism

Bloomberg

Stocks advanced with US futures as favourable news reports from China and data from Europe boosted risk
appetite. The dollar falls and Treasuries rise.
Contracts on all three major US gauges rise, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index saw broad gains. Hong Kong shares rallied as China considered further support for property developers.
Tesla Inc rises, poised for a rebound after 12% slump, as investor Cathie Wood topped up her holding of shares in the electric-vehicle maker.
After a volatile year that saw equities tumble with bonds on worries about inflation and higher interest rates, investors are seeking signs of cooling that will allow policymakers to slow the pace of rate hikes. A report showed French inflation unexpectedly slowed, adding to signs of easing price pressure in the euro area.
“If you don’t see a deep recession, you see a shallow recession, all that would be the recipe for markets to see a nice rally starting perhaps in the second half,” said Vasu Menon, executive director, investment strategy for OCBC Bank Wealth Management, in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “There is a lot of liquidity on the sidelines waiting to get back into play, waiting for those macro cues.”
Traders are also awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting, and the keenly watched jobs report later this week. Treasuries rose further, after Tuesday’s strongest start to a year since 2001. Elsewhere, oil deepened a slump amid a deteriorating demand outlook.
The Australian dollar surged on reports that China is mulling an end to a ban on Australian coal. The yen advanced after the Bank of Japan unveiled further
unscheduled bond buying.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% as of 4:55 am New York time and Nasdaq 100 futures also climb 0.5%.
While futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, the Stoxx Europe 600 also gains 0.9%.