Investing
Global stocks set to snap 9-week winning streak on Fed repricing
© Reuters. A man is reflected on an electric stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan April 18, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo
By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian stocks wobbled on Friday, keeping global equities on track to snap a nine-week winning streak, while the dollar was poised for its strongest weekly advance since mid-July as bets on aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts were rolled back.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1% in the Asian morning, with Hong Kong’s slipping 0.18%.
The MSCI world index was about flat so far on the day, but heading for a 1.7% decline this week.
was something of an outlier, bouncing 0.5% on Friday as exporters got a boost from the yen’s slide back to just shy of 145 per dollar amid a rise in U.S. Treasury yields.
The , which measures the currency against a basket of six major peers including the yen, hovered around 102.39, not far from Wednesday’s three-week high of 102.73. For the week, it is up 0.97%.
Meanwhile, the was hovering just below the psychological 4% mark at about 3.99%, up some 13 basis points over the week.
Overnight, Wall Street’s retreated 0.34%, taking its losses this week to 1.7%, setting up its first weekly decline since late October. Futures pointed to a 0.08% rise at the reopen.
The latest catalyst for a paring of Fed rate-cut bets came from more resilient U.S. labour market data on Thursday, putting less pressure on the central bank to race to ease policy.
Traders now see a little better than 2-in-3 odds that the Fed cuts rates by March, down from a 71% probability a week earlier, according to the CME Group’s (NASDAQ:) Fedwatch tool.
The release of monthly U.S. payrolls figures looms large later in the day, with investors “agonising” over the timing and pace of rate cuts, according to Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
“Speculation and a dose of leverage can force rates markets to overshoot,” Rodda said.
“Such technical factors might explain the moderation in U.S. rate expectations,” with “data indicating a more resilient U.S. economy” acting as the catalyst, he added.
Elsewhere, gold edged higher to around $2,047 per ounce, though it was still set to snap a three-week winning streak with a 0.76% slide so far in 2024.
Oil ticked slightly higher following declines on Thursday, when massive weekly gasoline and distillate stock builds overshadowed a larger-than-expected crude stock draw.
futures were up 0.18% at $77.73 per barrel, after settling down 0.8% overnight. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures added 0.43% to $72.50 on Friday following a 0.7% decline in the previous session.
For the week, Brent is up 0.96%, while WTI has gained 1.17%.
Read the full article here
-
Side Hustles7 days ago
3 Steps You Can’t Miss When Growing Your Business
-
Side Hustles6 days ago
How to Develop Empowered Leaders Within Your Own Team
-
Side Hustles4 days ago
How to Be Unapologetically You and Why It Matters
-
Passive Income5 days ago
Are You Running Your Business, or Is Your Business Running You?
-
Investing5 days ago
7 Marketing Strategies to Help Your Startup Grow and Scale
-
Side Hustles5 days ago
How Your Body Language Can Help Win a Disagreement
-
Side Hustles5 days ago
OpenAI Raises Record $6.6 Billion, Adds 50 Million New Users
-
Make Money5 days ago
FlexJobs Report: Here’s How Workers View AI and Job Stability