Global Stock Rally Builds in Asia; Dollar Slips: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks gained Thursday and were on course to erase this year’s declines as the global equity rally that’s driven shares higher since March continued to strengthen. The dollar weakenedShares rose in Japan, South Korea and China. In Hong Kong, Tencent Holdings Ltd. advanced after the tech giant played down the Trump administration’s WeChat ban and its results beat estimates. Australian equities underperformed as earnings at some firms disappointed. S&P 500 contracts were little changed after the benchmark momentarily topped its February high, capping the more than 50% rally since the market lows in March. Gold resumed its advance. Stock markets around the world are recovering losses triggered by the initial onset of the global pandemic, though investors continue to bank on further stimulus and Federal Reserve speakers sounded more urgent about the need to protect a nascent recovery. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan called on officials to push harder for adherence to protective behaviors and said extending unemployment benefits is “critical” to growth.“The main force that’s been driving markets the last few weeks has really been momentum,” said Kevin Caron, portfolio manager for Washington Crossing. “We’ve got a market that’s focused on the good case outcome for the virus, we’ve got a market that has taken a great deal of comfort in that fiscal policy is going to be there to support an economy through tough times.”Elsewhere, oil was steady after rising earlier on signs of improving demand.Here are some key events coming up:China releases a slew of data for July on Friday, including industrial production and retail sales.These are the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:25 a.m. in Hong Kong. The index rose 1.4% on Wednesday.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1%. Shanghai Composite added 0.3%. Japan’s Topix index advanced 0.9%.South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.6%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.4%.Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.3%. CurrenciesThe yen was at 106.69 per dollar, up 0.2%.The offshore yuan traded at 6.9317 per dollar.The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%.The euro bought $1.1809, up 0.2%.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries was at 0.66%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.2% to $42.57 a barrel.Gold was at $1,938.35 an ounce, up 1.2%.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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