Asian Stocks Set for Muted Start; Oil Rises: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks looked set for a muted open Tuesday after a lackluster session on Wall Street. Crude oil rallied and the dollar touched a one-week high.Futures were little changed in Japan, which reopens after a holiday Monday. Contracts were flat in Australia and edged higher in Hong Kong. S&P 500 futures opened little changed after the benchmark approached its all-time high from February. The tech- heavy Nasdaq 100 lost ground. Treasuries slipped, pushing yields to the highest in two weeks. Investors are assessing simmering tensions between the U.S. and China, as well as progress in talks between Democrats and Republicans still negotiating a broader additional virus relief package. China said it will sanction 11 Americans in retaliation for similar measures imposed by the U.S. on Friday, but the list doesn’t include any members of the Trump administration.“We continue to be in the latter stage of what was once a relief rally moving from short-term realism to hope and make-belief,” Sebastien Galy, senior market strategist at Nordea Investment Funds, wrote in a note. “We remain of the view that this rally can continue for a while but to prudently take profit on growth as it rallies.”Elsewhere, oil gained the most in almost three weeks after Saudi Aramco said demand will continue to improve and traders bet on more U.S. stimulus. Turkey’s lira was weaker even as the banking regulator moved to slow lending in an attempt to stabilize the currency.Here are some key events coming up:Earnings include SoftBank, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Carlsberg, Tencent and JD.com.New Zealand’s policy decision is due on Wednesday.China releases a slew of data for July on Friday, including industrial production and retail sales.U.S. retail sales are expected Friday, with a smaller increase forecast for July than in the prior two months.These are the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures were little changed as of 7:03 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 Index increased 0.3%.Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.1%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures were flat.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures rose 0.4% earlier.CurrenciesThe yen was little changed at 105.94 per dollar.The offshore yuan was at 6.900 per dollar.The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.1%.The euro traded at $1.1741 after falling 0.4% to near the weakest in almost two weeks.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries increased one basis point to 0.58%, the highest in almost two weeks.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% to $41.99 a barrel.Gold slipped to $2,027.34 an ounce.Copper rose 2.7% to $2.87 a pound, the largest rise in more than two months.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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