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Asian stocks rebounded as bonds stabilized with investors deeming the market reaction to Italy’s political turmoil as overdone. The dollar held losses and the euro climbed as Italian bond yields fell.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index of stocks bounced after touching its lowest level since February Wednesday amid heightened fears Italy could leave the euro. U.S. 10-year yields hovered back above 2.84 percent. Energy shares paced gains as West Texas crude surged above $68 a barrel. Hong Kong and Chinese stocks outperformed as China’s official factory gauge underscored robust growth despite debt curbs and trade tensions. European futures climbed in early trading.
While the slump in Italian bonds that spilled over into global risk assets has abated, the prospect of snap Italian elections – which could effectively become a referendum on the euro – continues to loom and the timing of any vote remains unclear. The concerns add to a growing list that includes the strength of the global economy, North Korea and simmering trade tensions.
“We are going to be filled with tremendous uncertainty over the course of the summer,” David Ader, chief macro strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence, told Bloomberg Television. “I don’t see that at this point in time we have a big directional play. I see a lot of uncertainty, which results in a lot of volatility.”
Traders will get some distraction from geopolitics and trade, with the U.S. jobs report out on Friday, the last one before the Federal Reserve meets next month, when it’s expected to lift interest rates for the seventh time since the end of 2015. Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer James Gorman said the Fed is unlikely to be dissuaded from pursuing its path of monetary tightening as a result of recent volatility in financial markets.
Elsewhere, the Indonesian rupiah led a broader emerging-market currency rally after Bank Indonesia raised the benchmark interest rate for a second time in less than two weeks on Wednesday and flagged more increases to counter a selloff in nation’s currency and bonds.
These are some key events to watch this week:
The U.S. employment report for May is due Friday. It’s the last before the June Fed meeting.
Automakers report May U.S. sales the same day.
Also Friday: some onshore Chinese stocks join MSCI Inc.’s global indexes.
On Saturday U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will travel to Beijing for more talks with Vice Premier Liu He on topics including ZTE Corp. and trade.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The Topix index rose 0.7 percent at the close in Tokyo.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.4 percent.
Kospi index rose 0.6 percent.
Hang Seng Index climbed 0.8 percent.
Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.5 percent.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent. The S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent Wednesday, the most in more than three weeks.
Futures on the FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent as of 7:08 a.m. in London.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 percent.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent.
The Japanese yen rose 0.1 percent to 108.76 per dollar.
The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.1677.
The pound added 0.2 percent to $1.3310.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was steady at 2.85 percent. It jumped seven basis points on Wednesday.
Australia’s 10-year bond yield rose one basis point to 2.66 percent.
Italy’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 2.86 percent after sinking 25 basis points.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1 percent to $68.15 a barrel. It jumped 2.2 percent Wednesday.
Gold added 0.2 percent to $1,303.56 an ounce.
Source: Bloomberg
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