Stocks gain with US futures

Bloomberg

Stock markets climbed globally for a second day along with US futures hours before the American presidential election.
Currency traders braced for increased volatility.
Bank shares including BNP Paribas SA advanced after the French lender joined European peers in posting lower-than-expected bad-loan provisions from the pandemic. Equity markets in Beijing, Hong Kong,
Australia and South Korea all surged more than 1%.
Contracts on the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average signalled the underlying gauges will add to Monday’s gain, clawing back some of their tumbles last week. Treasuries slipped along with a gauge of the dollar.
A measure of expected swings in China’s currency rose to the highest in more than nine years as traders hedged against a volatile yuan after the US election. Overnight gauges for other currencies, such as the Australian dollar and sterling, also jumped as the vote and its aftermath loomed.
Investors are showing a bit more optimism as they face the possibility of a contested election outcome that produces no clear winner for some time. Polls continue to tell them that Democratic nominee Joe Biden is ahead, though the race remains tight in some battleground states, some of which are seeing virus cases soar.
“It’s pretty much a binary outcome,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “The question is, is the market right now looking at a Biden victory? And will it be disappointed if we don’t have that?”
Once the US election passes, investors will contend with the Federal Reserve delivering a policy decision on Thursday before the October jobs report on Friday. Elsewhere, oil held gains after jumping the most in three weeks on Monday on increasing signs Opec+ will delay a planned easing of output cuts.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 1.1% as of 8:21 am London time and futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.7%.
While Nasdaq 100 Index futures advanced 0.4%, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.9%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.4% and the British pound climbed 0.3% to $1.2959.
While the Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 104.59 per dollar, the Taiwanese dollar was little changed at NT$28.92 per US dollar.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained two basis points to 0.86% and Germany’s 10-year yield increased two basis points to -0.62%. While Britain’s 10-year yield increased two basis points to 0.237%, New Zealand’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.553%.
West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.9% to $37.50 a barrel and gold was little changed at $1,895.06 an ounce. While soybeans jumped 1.1% to $10.64 a bushel, iron ore declined 1.5% to $112.77 per
metric ton.