Stocks buoyed by China tech earnings; dollar drops: markets wrap

Stocks in Asia were buoyed Friday by better-than-expected earnings at Chinese technology companies. The dollar dropped.

An MSCI Inc. gauge of Asia-Pacific shares gained for the first day in four and was on track for its second weekly advance. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. beat sales forecasts, underpinning a rally in Hong Kong, while Japan also climbed. US and European futures wavered. Shares climbed on Wall Street Thursday on signs consumers remain resilient despite inflationary pressures.

The dollar extended a slide, with a gauge of the currency versus major peers down almost 3% from a May 12 peak. Treasury yields were steady. Oil was holding near $114 a barrel after being bolstered by the broad-based market rally and on signs of declines in US stockpiles. Copper and aluminum stabilised after leading a slide in metals on concerns China’s slowdown will sap demand.

China’s stocks rose as investors look for concrete measures to revive the battered economy. Policy makers are grappling with how to balance controlling a virus outbreak with boosting flagging economic growth.

Global stocks look set to snap seven weeks of declines that made valuations attractive and enticed investors back into a market still shadowed by worries about inflation and higher interest rates, China’s downbeat economic outlook and the war in Ukraine.

“We may see a little bit more stability here because we have repriced the stocks so much already,” Anastasia Amoroso, iCapital chief investment strategist, said on Bloomberg Television. “I don’t know how much this move higher is going to go because I don’t think the fundamentals really justify it near term. In the next three to six months it’s still going to be a constrained market environment.”

Meanwhile, China-US tensions are once again being played out after direct comments from Secretary of State Antony Blinken aimed at Chinese President Xi Jinping. And in a fresh challenge to Beijing, the US and Taiwan are planning to announce negotiations to deepen economic ties.

Here are some key events to watch this week:

• US core PCE price index; personal income and spending; wholesale inventories; University of Michigan consumer sentiment Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P futures fell 0.2% as of 7 a.m. in London. The S&P 500 rose 2%
• Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.8%
• Topix index added 0.5%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.1%
• Hang Seng Index gained 2.2%
• Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
• The Japanese yen traded at 126.86 per dollar, up 0.2%
• The offshore yuan was at 6.7640 per dollar
• The euro was at $1.0748, up 0.2%

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was at 2.74%
• Australia’s 10-year bond yield rose six basis points to 3.26%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate was at $113.93 a barrel
• Gold was at $1 853.50 an ounce