Asian stocks were steady and U.S. equity futures climbed Thursday, shrugging off a weak Wall Street close amid questions about how much of a threat the omicron coronavirus strain really poses.
MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific gauge fluctuated, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts rose. The World Health Organization said vaccines will likely protect against severe cases of the variant and Australia’s chief medical officer said there’s no indication the variant is deadlier than other strains. European contracts declined.
In Hong Kong, an index of Chinese technology shares retreated amid Beijing’s plan to close a loophole used by tech firms to list abroad. Some suppliers to Apple Inc. slid on a report that the firm informed component suppliers of weakening demand for the iPhone 13 lineup.
American markets Wednesday were buffeted by the first confirmed U.S. case of omicron and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s reiteration that officials should consider a faster reduction of monetary stimulus amid high inflation.
But the mood was better in Asian hours: Treasuries fell, the dollarwas little changed and the yen declined and crude oil advanced. Meanwhile, Turkey’s lira weakened after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan abruptly replaced his finance minister. While the knee-jerk reaction of stock investors may “continue to be to take profits before the end of the year,” there is “plenty of liquidity available to drive stock prices higher as dip-buyers enter the market,” strategists led by Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, wrote in a note.
Fed Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said she is “very open” to scaling back the Fed’s asset purchases at a faster pace so it can raise interest rates a couple of times next year if needed.
Crude oil’s climb came as traders await an OPEC+ meeting that will discuss output. Elsewhere, gold was little changed and Bitcoin slipped below $57,000.
US After Hours SNOW +13.1%, FIVE +8.4%, ZUO +7.5% higher on earnings; ESTC -7.1%, VEEV -5.4% lower on earnings; SQ +1.2% to change its name to Block
Nikkei -0.65% Hang Seng +0.12% CSI +0.26% Shanghai -0.05% Shenzen -0.46%
Eur$ 1.1324 CNH 6.3712 CNY 6.3702 JPY 113.07 GBP 1.3291 CHF 0.9203 RUB 73.9516 TRY 13.3709 WTI$ 66.48 +0.15% Gold 1,778 -0.2% BTC 56,550 -470 ETH 4,515 -55
S&P +0.87% Nasdaq +0.63% EuroStoxx -0.82% FTSE -0.89% Dax -0.95% SMI -0.69%
Macro :
- JPM’s Kolanovic Says Buy the Dip, Omicron May Be Less Deadly (1)
- Merkel Calls for Mandatory Shots, Restrictions for Unvaccinated
- Merkel Calls for Mandatory Shots, Restrictions for Unvaccinated
- Fed’s Mester Signals Two Hikes as Base Case for 2022
- Beige Book Highlights Bottlenecks Throttling Growth
- Strategist Forecasts for U.K’s FTSE 100 Index in 2022 (Table)
- Strategist Forecasts for Germany’s DAX in 2022 (Table)
- Strategist Forecasts for European Stock Indexes in 2022 (Table)
Keep an eye on :
Keep an eye on :
- A2A IM : A2A, Ardian Extend Exclusivity Period to March 31 From Dec. 31
- ABDN LN : Abrdn Finalising GBP1.5B Interactive Investor Takeover: Sky
- AIR FP : Jet Airways in Talks With Boeing, Airbus for $12 Billion Order
- AF FP : Air France-KLM Mulls Delay to Capital Increase on Omicron: Rtrs
- ALO FP : Alstom to Transfer Bombardier’s High-Speed Train to Hitachi Rail
- DARK LN : Darktrace to Leave FTSE 100 After Brief Stint as Shares Slump
- ROO LN : Deliveroo CEO, CFO Offer Shares For Tax Liabilities: Terms, Offered @ GBp728/share
- DIE BB : Belgian Nov. Car Registrations Sink 17%; D’Ieteren Has 21.5%
- DIOS SS : Dios Offers Up to SEK800m Shares via Danske Bank Offered @ SEK110/Share
- DOV IM : Dovalue Completes Two NPL Securitizations in Italy for EU3.5b
- ENEL I M : Enel CEO Says Renewables Can Blunt Price Volatility: Corriere
- RF FP : Eurazeo Holder Tikehau Capital Offers Shares: Terms
- RF FP : Eurazeo Buys Back 0.3M of Own Shares at EU72.50 Per Share
- FLEXQ SS : Flexqube Offers Up to 800,000 Shares via Carnegie
- HFD LN : Halfords to Raise About GBP64m by Placing to Fund Axle Purchase
- RMS FP : Hermes to Join Euro Stoxx 50, Cementing Luxury Brand’s Ascent
- IBE SM : Iberdrola, H2 Green Steel to Build EU2.3B Iberian Hydrogen Plant
- MRL SM : Merlin Aims to Sell EU.185B Bank Offices Portfolio: Confidencial
- MRNA US : Moderna in ‘High-Level’ Talks to Expand in France, CEO to Figaro
- NOVN SW : Novartis Says It Has 20 Potential Blockbusters in Drug Pipeline
- PSH NA : Pershing Square Holdings Nov. Net Performance -1.2%
- PRSM LN : Polygon Calls Again for Blue Prism Bidders to Improve Offers
- RFAST SS : Randviken Fastigheter Offers About SEK670m Shares: Terms
- RFAST SS : Randviken Fastigheter Offers About SEK670m Shares: Terms
- SGO FP : Saint-Gobain Is Said to Consider Acquisition of GCP Applied Tech
- SPSN SW : Swiss Prime Site Signs Two Credit Facilities Totalling CHF2.6B
- UCB BB : UCB, Novartis Enter Commercialization Agreement For Parkinson’s
- UMG NA : *HERMES TO REPLACE UNIVERSAL MUSIC IN EURO STOXX 50 INDEX
- VIFN SW : CSL in Talks to Raise A$4b for Vifor Pharma Bid: AFR
- VOLVB SS : Volvo Cars Gets SEK144m Subsidy to Convert Skovde Factory: DI