Bloomberg News - U.S. Stock Futures Erase Gain, Dollar Dips on Data: Markets Wrap

by Todd White

U.S. equity futures erased a gain, Treasuries extended their advance and the dollar turned lower after American data including retail sales and jobless claims disappointed. European stocks were flat as investors digested a slew of company earnings.

Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Index, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all traded little changed after poor data, including the worst drop for retail sales in nine years, added to signs that U.S. economic growth is cooling from prior quarters. Coca-Cola fell in pre-market trading after results showed it sold fewer drinks in the Americas in the fourth quarter.

Food and industrial-goods shares had spurred the Stoxx Europe 600 Index amid a slew of company news, but it tracked the move of U.S. futures. Equity benchmarks drifted in Japan, China and Australia, and ticked lower in Hong Kong. European core sovereign bonds rose and the single currency strengthened after data showed the euro region’s biggest economy stagnated in the fourth quarter, but dodged recession.

Earlier shares had gained on reports President Donald Trump is considering pushing back the deadline for imposition of higher tariffs on Chinese imports by 60 days, as the world’s two-biggest economies try to negotiate a solution to their trade dispute. Trump also told reporters that trade talks are making good progress, helping to steady investor sentiment.

Elsewhere, emerging-market shares and currencies fell. Russia’s 10-year bonds dropped the most since since November after the U.S. Senate introduced sanctions legislation targeting the country’s banks and state debt.

Oil continued its rebound as falling shipments from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela outweighed gains in U.S. crude stockpiles. And the pound weakened while gilts advanced ahead of Parliament’s latest set of voteson Theresa May’s Brexit strategy, and after dovish remarks from a Bank of England policy maker.

Here are some key events coming up:

• Steven Mnuchin and Robert Lighthizer are in Beijing for high-level talks, and will meet China President Xi Jinping on Friday, the South China Morning Post reported.
• The U.K. Parliament, with less than two months before its deadline to leave the European Union, votes on alternatives to Prime Minister Theresa May’s defeated Brexit legislation.
• U.S. Congress is close to voting on legislation to avert another partial government shutdown, with the Friday deadline quickly approaching.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1 percent as of 8:46 a.m. New York time.
• Futures on the S&P 500 Index fell less than 0.05 percent.
• The MSCI World Index of developed countries increased less than 0.05 percent to the highest in more than 10 weeks.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell less than 0.05 percent.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent.
• The euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.13.
• The British pound fell 0.2 percent to $1.2816.
• The Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent to the strongest in more than a week.
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index sank 0.4 percent to the lowest in three weeks on the largest decrease in two months.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank five basis points to 2.65 percent.
• Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 0.09 percent.
• Japan’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to -0.014 percent.

Commodities

• Gold climbed 0.4 percent to $1,311.40 an ounce, the largest increase in more than two weeks.
• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2 percent to $54.00 a barrel.
• Arabica coffee fell 0.8 percent to $1.01 a pound.
• LME copper increased 0.6 percent to $6,160.50 per metric ton.

— With assistance by Andrew Dunn, April Ma, and Adam Haigh

(An earlier version corrected direction of share move in first paragraph.)