NEW YORK: Global stocks started the week with gains amid signs of positive developments in the fight against the coronavirus and a boost to stimulus measures from the Bank of Japan. The dollar retreated.
Bloomberg reported that Asian shares climbed, U.S. futures reversed earlier losses to trade higher and European contracts pushed up. Trading volumes remained subdued amid the risk-on move. In currencies, the Australian dollar outperformed, while the yen strengthened. Treasury yields advanced. Coronavirus deaths slowed the most in more than a month in Spain, Italy and France while fatalities reported in the U.K. and New York were the lowest since the end of March.
The Federal Reserve joins the BOJ and the European Central Bank announcing policy decisions this week as the battle against the pandemic continues with some countries proceeding with steps to relax lockdown measures. Several major economies will release GDP numbers, while corporate earnings will keep flooding in, including from Amazon.com Inc., Barclays Plc and Samsung Electronics Co.
Elsewhere, oil fell to trade below $16 a barrel as swelling global crude stockpiles made it more difficult for leading producers to balance the market by curbing output.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- Futures on the S&P 500 rose 1.1% as of 6:02 a.m. in London. The gauge added 1.4% on Friday.
- Topix index advanced 1.7%.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1.5%.
- South Korea’s Kospi index rose 2%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.9%.
- Shanghai Composite rose 0.7%.
Currencies
- The yen rose 0.2% to 107.25 per dollar.
- The offshore yuan traded at 7.0816 per dollar, up 0.1%.
- The euro bought $1.0841, up 0.2%.
- The Aussie gained 1.2% to 64.48 U.S. cents.
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose three basis points to 0.63%.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 8.8% to $15.44 a barrel.
- Gold was at $1,722 an ounce, down 0.5%.
