US futures soared with Asian stocks amid expectations that President-elect Joe Biden has a clearer way to boost fiscal stimulus after the major elections. Treasury bills suffered losses due to concerns about the increased debt burden and the risk of faster inflation.
An Asia-Pacific stock indicator was on the way to another record on Thursday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also advanced. The Democrats’ victory in Georgia’s two main rounds gives them control of the U.S. Senate and rekindled so-called reflective trade, which bets on a global recovery from the pandemic.
Previously, the S&P 500 trimmed an advance of up to 1.5%, but still closed on the green after protesters invaded the U.S. Capitol. Calm was restored later. Elsewhere, the dollar has gone up. The rose and gold oil have changed little.
Hong Kong lost its recovery in Asia, hampered by declines in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., after reports that the Trump administration could block investments in China’s two most valuable companies. The New York Stock Exchange’s plan to remove three major Chinese telecommunications companies also undermined sentiment.
Investors focused on the political implications of Democrats gaining control of the U.S. Senate, while lawmakers resumed the politically charged process of ratifying Biden’s victory in the presidential election. Hours earlier, a pro-Trump crowd had invaded the United States Capitol and expelled lawmakers from their quarters.
Stock markets in Asia seemed to ignore the turmoil and chose to “focus on the prospects for further stimulus from the outcome in Georgia,” said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital.
In the last minutes released on Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee issued guidelines that it would continue to buy securities at least at the current rate until the economic recovery had made “substantial progress”.
Meanwhile, shares of Twitter Inc. fell in after-hours trading after the platform suspended President Donald Trump’s account for inciting a violent crowd that broke into the Capitol building.
These are some of the main movements in the markets:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures were up 0.7% as of 6:50 am in London. The S&P 500 gained 0.6%.
- Japan’s Topix index rose 1.7%.
- Australia’s S & P / ASX 200 index rose 1.6%.
- South Korea’s Kospi index rose 2.1%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.5%.
- The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.2%.
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.3%.
Coins
- The yen was at 103.21 per dollar, down 0.2%.
- The offshore yuan was trading at 6.4393 per dollar.
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was up less than 0.1%.
- The euro was at $ 1.2322.
Titles
- Yield on 10-year Treasury bonds increased by 1 basis point to 1.05%, after rising by 8 basis points.
- Yield on Australia’s 10-year bonds increased two basis points to 1.09%.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% to $ 51.09 a barrel.
- Gold rose 0.3% to $ 1,925.27 an ounce.
– With the help of Rita Nazareth, Vildana Hajric and Joanna Ossinger