Global Stock Slump Wanes; Oil Prices Stabilize: Markets Wrap
Bloomberg.com — Stocks began the last week of November on a positive footing, with most Asian benchmarks higher and U.S. equity futures advancing after last week’s tumble. Oil prices also made a run at stabilizing, with West Texas crude putting some distance from the $50 a barrel mark.
Shares climbed from Tokyo and Seoul to Hong Kong, though Chinese and Australian equities bucked the positive trend. Most groups in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index were higher, led by technology — the sector that’s been pounded in the U.S. for much of the past eight weeks. European equity futures also pointed to gains. The yen dipped along with Treasuries, while China’s yuan held steady. The pound was little changed after European Union leaders agreed to the Brexit deal from U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.
In focus for investors this week will be Federal Reserve speeches and policy-meeting minutes that may give clues on the 2019 outlook, and a key sit-down between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump ahead of the next scheduled escalation in tariff hikes. With bond traders having reduced expectations for the pace of U.S. monetary policy tightening, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has the opportunity of shedding light on prospects for a pause in a speech Wednesday.
“The market will be looking for potentially some signs of dovish overtures coming through” from the Fed this week, John Lockton, head of investment strategy in Sydney at Wilsons Advisory & Stockbroking, told Bloomberg TV. On trade, investors “are looking for a pathway. I am not sure we are going to see a detailed agreement. A pathway to success, a pathway to an outcome will be highly supportive of equities globally,” he said.
Elsewhere, bitcoin extended its recent tumble to below $4,000 following the worst week ever for cryptocurrencies. Iron ore futures tanked in Singapore as steel mills’ profitability in China sunk, prompting producers to cut their consumption of the raw material.