Treasuries nudged higher after the curve steepened on Wednesday, a sign investors see more U.S. stimulus coming. The yuan slipped after recouping all the losses since the coronavirus outbreak.
“At the moment the market takes this as credible enough, that is to say there is some recovery coming ahead as a result of the current action,” said Ben Emons, managing director of global macro strategy at Medley Global Advisors.
As risk assets recover, traders remain on edge amid a rise in virus cases around the world. The S&P 500 has surged about 6% this week, a rebound that began late Friday when the Federal Reserve pledged support. It remains almost 8% below last month’s all-time high.
Elsewhere, oil climbed amid a split between Saudi Arabia and Russia over whether deeper production cuts are required to offset the demand hit from the coronavirus epidemic.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- Japan’s Topix index rose 0.6% as of 11:19 a.m. in Tokyo.
- South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.3%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5%.
- The Shanghai Composite added 0.5%.
- Futures on the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.8%. The underlying gauge advanced 4.2% on Wednesday.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.8%.
Currencies
- The euro bought $1.1140, little changed.
- The yen rose 0.2% to 107.32 per dollar.
- The offshore yuan slid 0.2% to 6.9382 per dollar.
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries dropped four basis points 1.01%.
- Australia’s 10-year yield rose six basis points to 0.78%.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% to $47.42 a barrel.
- Gold added 0.1% to $1,639 an ounce.