Asian stocks looked set to greet the week with declines as investors look ahead to data on the progress in China’s economic recovery. The dollar was steady in early trading.
Currency markets saw muted moves, while equity futures indicated small losses when trading begins Monday. There is no trading of cash Treasuries due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. On Friday, the S&P 500 declined and support for Treasuries pushed the yield on 10-year notes down to around 1.08%.
Global shares slipped last week after optimism about the $1.9 trillion U.S. aid package, and the so-called reflation trade, faltered. China’s recovery probably powered ahead in the fourth quarter, with GDP set to post the fastest expansion in two years, according to expectations ahead of Monday’s release.
“Markets needed a breather or even a pull back to justify reflationary expectations,” said Ben Emons, managing director of global macro strategy at Medley Global Advisors.
Meantime, another 3,830 people in the U.S. died of causes related to Covid-19, keeping the country on track to reach 400,000 deaths before in inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
These are some key events coming up in the week ahead:
- U.S. equity and bond markets are shut Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
- China data on GDP, industrial production and retail sales are due Monday.
- Earnings come from companies including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Procter & Gamble, Intel, and Netflix.
- Joe Biden takes office as U.S. president on Wednesday.
- Policy decisions are due Wednesday from central banks in Brazil, Malaysia and Canada. The Bank of Japan and the ECB deliver decisions Thursday.
Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- The S&P 500 fell 0.7% on Friday.
- Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.8% on Friday.
- Hang Seng futures lost 0.3% on Friday.
- Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 0.2% on Friday.
Currencies
- The yen was at 103.78 per dollar.
- The euro bought $1.2083.
- The offshore yuan traded at 6.4805 per dollar.
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries ended last week at 1.08%.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude ended last week at $52.36 a barrel.
- Gold was at $1,828.45 an ounce.
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