Stocks gain after two-week slump; US futures climb

Bloomberg

Global stocks climbed after a two-week slump and US futures rallied amid a flurry of deal activity and signs of progress towards a virus vaccine.
Travel stocks led gains in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, while contracts on the Nasdaq 100 Index added 1.4%. The dollar edged lower, gold climbed and Treasuries were little changed ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.
Immunomedics Inc. shares more than doubled in US pre-market trading after Gilead Sciences Inc. agreed to buy the cancer drugmaker for $21 billion. In Japan, SoftBank Group Corp. climbed as Nvidia Corp. agreed to buy the firm’s chip division Arm Ltd. for $40 billion.
Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said it’s “likely” the US will deploy a Covid-19 vaccine to the public before year-end and that the company is prepared for that scenario. Seperately, AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford have restarted a UK trial of their vaccine after the study was halted over concerns about a participant who fell ill.
Global stocks are coming off the back of the first consecutive weeks of declines since March and traders remain on edge given the recent reassessment of valuations and volatility in options markets. The Fed is expected this week to maintain its dovish stance on policy as investors look for signs the global economy is recovering from the pandemic. Strategists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG suggested the recent pullback in the US is nearing an end.
“With such a powerful monetary impulse coursing through the US and European economy, the odds are that the market will be surprised again positively” in the fourth quarter, said Sebastien Galy, senior strategist at Nordea Investment Funds. “The conclusion is that we should remain in a buy on dip market.”
Futures on the S&P 500 Index advanced 1.1% as of 9:44 am London time and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.3%.
While MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.9%, MSCI Emerging Market Index advanced 0.8%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2% and euro climbed 0.1% to $1.186.
While the British pound advanced 0.4% to $1.2852, the Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 105.95 per dollar. The offshore yuan strengthened 0.2% to 6.8222 per dollar.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased less than one basis point to 0.66%.
and the yield on two-year Treasuries increased less than one basis point to 0.13%.
While Germany’s 10-year yield sank one basis point to -0.49%, Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.177%. Japan’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.021%.
West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.7% to $37.14 a barrel and Brent crude declined 0.8% to $39.62 a barrel. Gold strengthened 0.3% to $1,946.61 an ounce.