US futures extend gains amid final stimulus push

Bloomberg

US equity futures extended gains as investors clung to hopes for a deal in stimulus talks. Europe equities fluctuated after a string of positive earnings.
Logitech surged as much as 22% to a record high after the tech hardware maker raised its sales forecast. UBS gained after the Swiss bank’s profit beat estimates and Reckitt Benckiser hiked its revenue forecast thanks to demand for disinfectant. Euronext said transactions that occurred on Monday are not valid, following the three-hour outage in trading of stocks and derivatives earlier that day.
The pound wavered versus the euro after the UK held out for additional European Union concessions as a condition for resuming trade talks. S&P 500 Index contracts rise as much as 0.7% after a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said differences were narrowing in talks. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will be in focus after a report it reached a long-awaited pact in the US to pay more than $2 billion for the bank’s role in Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal.
Investors are weighing Pelosi’s deadline of getting an accord with the White House for more US pandemic aid against forecasts that say nothing will be approved before the November 3 election. Federal Reserve policy makers have called for more fiscal support to shore up the recovery from the pandemic-induced recession.
Earlier in the Asia day, the Australian dollar slid after comments from the central bank’s assistant governor that short-term rates could fall below zero.
Meanwhile, global coronavirus cases exceeded 40 million, with the pandemic showing no signs of slowing. In the US, surges in Wisconsin and other battleground states pose a challenge for President Donald Trump two weeks before he stands for re-election.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed at 10:32 am London time and futures on the S&P 500 Index increased 0.6%. While Nasdaq 100 Index futures gained 0.6%, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.3%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index falls 0.1% and the British pound increased 0.1% to $1.2965. While the Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 105.56 per dollar, the Australian dollar declined 0.5% to $0.704.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed one basis point to 0.78% and Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.62%.
While Britain’s 10-year yield increased one basis point to 0.179%, Italy’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to 0.744%.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $40.73 a barrel and gold strengthened 0.1% to $1,906.27 an ounce.