Stocks and U.S. equity futures rose Friday amid a bout of calm in global markets after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell again pushed back against speculation of more aggressive interest-rate hikes.
Japan, China and Hong Kong helped an Asian share gauge climb 1%. US and European contracts advanced after a volatile S&P 500 session saw the index rebound to close little changed.
Abating panic in the highly speculative cryptocurrency market may be helping sentiment. Bitcoin added about 2.5% to top $29,000.
Powell reaffirmed the Fed is likely to raise rates by a half point at each of its next two meetings and isn’t “actively considering” a 75 basis-point move.
But he left open the possibility of doing more if needed to get high inflation under control. Concerns that tightening monetary policy will spark an economic downturn continue to shadow markets and have tended to snuff out rebounds.
Such caution has put a dollar gauge on course for its longest streak of weekly gains since 2018. Treasuries gave back some of their recent rally, taking the 10-year yield to about 2.89%. The yen also pared its climb this week.
Monetary tightening, China’s Covid lockdowns and Russia’s war in Ukraine have roiled a range of assets this year and left world shares near a bear market.
It’s a “very tough time,” Kathy Entwistle, managing director at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “We’re holding just still and quiet and patient and waiting for some more insights as to where we’re going. We still see a lot of volatility on the horizon.”
The latest US data showed producer prices jumped 11% from April last year, signaling that consumer inflation could continue to stay high.
In China, Beijing officials denied the city will be locked down. Residents flocked to grocery stores amid growing concern the Chinese capital will step up curbs to fight a persistent Covid outbreak.
Oil prices scaled $107 a barrel and wheat prices rallied, partly as the war continues to impact commodities.
European Union nations say it may be time to consider delaying a push to ban Russian oil if the bloc can’t persuade Hungary to back the embargo. Wheat production in Ukraine, one of the biggest growers, will fall by one-third compared to last year, according to a US forecast.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.7% and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.9%.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures rose 0.7% as of 10:45 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%
- Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.9%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2%
- Japan’s Topix index climbed 1.7%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.4%
- South Korea’s Kospi index increased 1.6%
- China’s Shanghai Composite index rose 0.5%
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.4%
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.8%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady
- The euro was at $1.0377
- The Japanese yen was at 129.12 per dollar, down 0.6%
- The offshore yuan was at 6.8299 per dollar
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis point to 2.89%
- Australia’s 10-year yield dropped four basis points to 3.39%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.2% to $107.40 a barrel
- Gold was at $1,824.19 an ounce, up 0.1%