The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
US equity futures advanced on Tuesday, taking their cue from a rally in Europe after strong earnings from oil giant BP. The euro edged lower and the pound weakened.
Contracts on the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones indexes all gained ground through the European morning after a lackluster start, though Google-parent Alphabet Inc. slipped in early trading after the company announced good earnings but a big rise in spending. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index headed for the sixth advance in a row despite growth warnings from two chip makers after BP’s results spurred energy shares. Euro area PMIs were revised upward, helping boost sentiment further.
Still, the common currency struggled as disappointing data from Italy hung over the region, while sterling fell following a weak services report.
In Asia, many markets were shuttered for the Lunar New Year holidays. Australian shares jumped the most in more than two years, powered by financial stocks following the results of a yearlong inquiry into misconduct in the industry. Japanese equities nudged higher.
The relative calm in markets belies an undercurrent of uncertainty as trade talks between the US and China remain unresolved and America lurches toward another government shutdown. Investors will be watching President Donald Trump’s second State of the Union address later for any more signs of political rancor or clues on the outlook for foreign trade.
Elsewhere, West Texas oil turned lower as traders weighed output cuts from the OPEC producer group and its partners against expectations for rising US crude inventories. Emerging-market shares and currencies drifted.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index gained 0.2 percent as of 8:40 a.m. New York time to the highest in two months. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.9 percent, reaching the highest in 12 weeks on its sixth consecutive advance.
The UK’s FTSE 100 Index jumped 1.3 percent, hitting the highest in almost three months with its sixth consecutive advance. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 percent to the highest in almost four months. The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.1 percent.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined less than 0.05 percent, while the euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.143, the weakest in more than a week.
The British pound decreased 0.2 percent to $1.3007, the weakest in two weeks while, the Japanese yen gained 0.1 percent to 109.82 per dollar.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped less than one basis point to 2.72 percent. Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.19 percent and Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 1.269 percent.