(Bloomberg) – Equities were mixed and U.S. stock futures steady as investors weighed further signs of China’s reopening with cautious comments from the Federal Reserve’s recent meeting.
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European stocks weathered the falls, with a report showing euro-zone producer prices fell more-than-expected in November. Declines at insurers offset gains at retailers after Next Plc raised its profit forecast. Contracts on the S&P 500 were little changed, trimming losses of up to 0.5% previously. Amazon.com Inc. rose in premarket trading after it announced it would lay off more than 18,000 employees.
In Asia, a rally in mainland China and Hong Kong stock prices was helped by news that the border with China is beginning to reopen.
Investors are looking for a private US jobs report later today and nonfarm payrolls on Friday for clues on the job market and its impact on monetary policy, after Fed minutes showed officials warned underestimating their willingness to keep interest rates high for some time. While US stocks pared gains after the protocol, traders are still pricing in rate cuts through the end of 2023.
“Nobody has been talking about a rate cut anytime soon, although market pricing still shows investors remain betting that the Fed will start cutting rates before the end of this year,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank . “Yes, there is some data pointing to a slowdown in US economic activity, but the job market – which is being closely monitored by the Fed – remains surprisingly tight.”
The dollar held steady while Treasuries gave back some of the previous day’s gains.
Elsewhere, crude oil rose after falling 9.5% over the past two days. The yen stabilized after falling 1.2% against the dollar on Wednesday.
The story goes on
Read more: Fed reiterates inflation resolve, resists rate cut bets
Important events this week:
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US ADP Employment Change, Initial Jobless Claims, Thursday
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China trade, Caixin PMI, Thursday
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Eurozone Retail Sales, CPI, Consumer Confidence, Friday
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Germany factory orders, Friday
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US nonfarm payrolls, factory orders, durable goods, Friday
Some of the key movements in the markets:
stocks
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The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed at 10:08 am London time
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The S&P 500 futures were little changed
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Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.1%
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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
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MSCI Asia Pacific Index up 0.6%
currencies
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
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The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0618
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The Japanese yen was little changed at 132.59 per dollar
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The offshore yuan rose 0.3% to 6.8796 per dollar
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The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2028
cryptocurrencies
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Bitcoin was little changed at $16,809.99
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Ether fell 0.2% to $1,249.52
Bind
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The 10-year government bond yield rose three basis points to 3.71%
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The 10-year German government bond yield rose four basis points to 2.31%
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The 10-year UK government bond yield rose two basis points to 3.51%
raw materials
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Brent crude rose 2.7% to $79.91 a barrel
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Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,848.06 an ounce
This story was created with the support of Bloomberg Automation.
–Assisted by Charlotte Yang, Nicholas Reynolds, Richard Henderson, and Sagarika Jaisinghani.
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