Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg
Asian equities were mixed on Wednesday after US equities fell from record highs on fading prospects for greater checks on government aid to individuals. The dollar has prolonged a decline.
Shares retreated to Japan and Australia and advanced to Hong Kong and South Korea, with thin volumes in major markets before the end of the year. The S&P 500 futures rose after the benchmark closed with a modest decline, while a US small equity index fell nearly 2%. U.S. stocks retreated from the day’s highs, while Senate Republicans blocked the Democrats’ attempt to increase direct payments to individuals to $ 2,000 from $ 600. The reference treasury has changed little and oil has risen.
With the end of a volatile year, risky assets, such as stocks, corporate bonds and Bitcoin, are at a record high. As investors try to assess the impact of the pandemic and the pace of vaccine distribution, the MSCI AC World global stock index will end the year about 14% higher, after rising by almost 68% from the March low.
“This is a recovering economy, the policy will be accommodative for years to come, it suggests a good background for risky assets – it doesn’t mean there won’t be some challenges as we progress in the next couple of years,” said Brian Levitt. Invesco’s global market strategist at Bloomberg TV: “The reality is that markets will be focused on a recovery.”
On the coronavirus front, the Covid-19 variant discovered in Great Britain arrived in Colorado, it’s said The first time she was identified as US President-elect Joe Biden criticized efforts to distribute vaccines under President Trump as too slow, while American infectious disease doctor Anthony Fauci told CNN that officials hoped to vaccinate more people. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has approved placing larger areas of the country under stricter Level 4 restrictions, according to the Times.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 rose and the FTSE 100 Index gathered in the first session of the Christmas Eve trade agreement with the European Union. The pound recovered part of Monday’s decline. The euro has strengthened.
John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank, discusses the outlook for the dollar and Treasury yields in 2021.
Here are some key events that occur:
- Data on the balance of home sales and the balance of trade in goods pending in the US are expected on Wednesday.
- Initial US unemployment figures are released on Thursday.
- Most global stock markets are closed on Friday for New Year’s Day.
These are the main movements in the markets:
Inventories
- The S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% since 11:46 in Tokyo. The S&P 500 index fell 0.2%.
- The Topix index fell 0.7%.
- The Australian S & P / ASX 200 index fell 0.9%.
- The Kospi index in South Korea rose 0.8%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.2%.
- The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7%.
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.4%.
currencies
- The yen was at 103.32 per dollar, up 0.3%.
- The offshore yuan traded at 6.5058 per dollar, up 0.2%.
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index fell 0.3%.
- The euro rose 0.3% to $ 1.2288.
- The pound rose 0.3% to $ 1.3542.
BONDS
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury was 0.93%.
- Australia’s 10-year bond yield was 0.97%.
commodities
- West Texas Intermediate Oil gained 0.6% to $ 48.28 a barrel.
- Gold rose 0.3% to $ 1,883.47 an ounce.
– With the assistance of Vildana Hajric