US Stock Futures Volatility Ahead of Fed Speeches: Markets Summary

(Bloomberg) — U.S. stock futures pointed to a steady day on Wall Street with benchmarks nearing record highs as traders await fresh signals on the scope of further easing after last week’s massive interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, trading in a narrow range ahead of comments from Federal Reserve officials including regional presidents Raphael Boucek and Austan Goolsbee on Monday. Among individual companies moving, Intel Corp. rose about 5% in premarket trading after Apollo Global Management Inc. said it had offered to make a multibillion-dollar investment in the chipmaker.

Later this week, investors await the Federal Reserve’s preferred price gauge and U.S. personal spending data, due out on Friday. The U.S. dollar held steady, while policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yields fell.

In Europe, traders digested worse-than-expected manufacturing data, spurring bets on more aggressive interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank. The euro fell and German yields fell, reflecting concerns that the region’s economic recovery has hit a dead end.

European stocks rose, with defensive shares in food, telecoms, real estate and utilities outperforming. Weak purchasing managers’ index data from France and Germany on Monday followed figures showing the euro zone’s private sector economy contracted for the first time since March.

“The market is almost clamoring for more aggressive rate cuts, especially after what we’ve seen from the Fed,” Maria Wittmann, chief multi-asset strategist at State Street, said on Bloomberg TV. The European Central Bank is “definitely overdue,” she added.

The single currency fell about 0.7% against the dollar, heading for its biggest daily decline since June. The spread between French and German benchmark yields rose to its highest since early August, suggesting investors remain nervous about France’s political and fiscal challenges.

France’s new government, formed late Saturday, is a mix of conservatives and centrists who haven’t always worked together smoothly, and opposition blocs in parliament are threatening a no-confidence vote that could topple the government. Investors are concerned that a government collapse would jeopardize the administration’s ability to pass the budget through parliament in the coming weeks.

The story continues

The company’s most prominent achievements:

Apollo Global Management Inc. has offered to invest billions of dollars in Intel Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would be a vote of confidence in the chipmaker’s turnaround strategy. Intel shares rose about 2% in premarket trading.

Shares in Rightmove Plc rose 5.3% after Australia’s REA Group made a third cash-and-shares offer for the UK property portal.

BNP Paribas Group has agreed to buy HSBC Holdings Plc’s private banking operations in Germany, as the French group seeks a bigger share of the country’s growing wealth management market.

American billionaire Dan Friedkin is close to taking over Everton Football Club, the English Premier League team that has been struggling to find a buyer, according to people familiar with the situation.

Elsewhere, Asian markets rose on speculation that China is close to announcing fresh stimulus, following a short-term interest rate cut and a rare economic briefing scheduled for Tuesday.

“The start of the Fed’s easing cycle should lead to more stimulus from China, especially as the 5% growth target looks difficult to achieve,” Mohit Kumar, chief strategist and economist for Europe at Jefferies International Ltd., wrote in a note. “Stimulus measures should also be beneficial for Europe.”

Gold touched a record high earlier before paring the move, as escalating conflict in the Middle East fueled bets on further gains in the yellow metal’s safe-haven status.

Main events this week:

• Australia interest rate decision, Tuesday

• Japan’s Jibun Bank Manufacturing PMI, Services PMI, Tuesday

• Mexico Consumer Price Index, Tuesday

• Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem speaks Tuesday

• Australian Consumer Price Index, Wednesday

• China’s medium-term lending facility rate, Wednesday

• Sweden interest rate decision, Wednesday

• Swiss interest rate decision Thursday

• European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaks Thursday

• U.S. Jobless Claims, Durable Goods, Revised GDP, Thursday

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivers pre-recorded remarks at the 10th Annual U.S. Treasury Market Conference, Thursday.

• Mexico interest rate decision, Thursday

• Tokyo CPI, Friday

• China’s industrial profits, Friday

• Eurozone Consumer Confidence, Friday

• U.S. Personal Spending Index, University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index, Friday

Some key movements in the markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were up 0.1% as of 7:23 a.m. ET in New York.

• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were little changed.

• The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2%.

• The MSCI World Index saw little change.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Index was little changed.

• The euro fell 0.4% to $1.1121.

• The pound was little changed at $1.3313.

• The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 143.46 yen per dollar.

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.4% to $63,484.51

• Ether price rose 2.8% to $2,645.79

Bonds

• The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose one basis point to 3.75%.

• The yield on the 10-year German bond fell by four basis points to 2.17%.

• The yield on 10-year British bonds rose one basis point to 3.91%.

Goods

This story was produced with the help of Bloomberg Automation.

–Assisted by Catherine Bosley.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2024 Bloomberg LP