U.S. stocks look poised to extend last week’s rally as investors bet on the strength of the economic recovery, despite rising virus infection rates.
The dollar weakened, while gold neared a seven-year high. Gains across retail and health-care shares helped the Stoxx Europe 600 Index erase an early retreat. Hong Kong stocks slumped after China moved to tighten oversight of the city. Crude oil hovered below US$40 a barrel in New York.
Even as virus cases rise in Germany and U.S. states of Florida, California and Texas, there’s growing speculation that politicians will be unwilling to put cities back on lockdown because of the economic toll. At the same time, markets have been supported by historic stimulus programs by central banks around the world, with policymakers vowing to get growth back on track.
In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to relax social distancing rules in a major boost to the U.K.’s hospitality industry, as the government seeks to re-open more sectors of the economy that have been shut during the lockdown.
“The market doesn’t believe that we will see such draconian lockdowns even if there is a resurgence of the virus. The politics have moved on,” said James Athey, a money manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments. “Rightly or wrongly, there’s also a pretty widespread feeling that riskier assets won’t go down too far, because the Federal Reserve won’t let them.”
In Turkey, the benchmark equities index erased its 2020 losses, lifted in a rally driven mostly by a wave of buying from local investors.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- Futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed 1.1 per cent as of 10:17 a.m. New York time.
- The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.1 per cent.
- The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index was little changed.
- The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.2 per cent.
- The MSCI Emerging Market Index advanced 0.6 per cent to 1,001.36.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude increased 0.1 per cent to $39.78 a barrel.
- Brent crude advanced 0.3 per cent to $42.32 a barrel.
- Gold strengthened 0.2 per cent to $1,747.94 an ounce.
Bloomberg.com
