Asia Stock Futures Gain as S&P 500 Hits New High: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia were primed for gains on Friday after a strong start to the year lifted U.S. equities to fresh all-time highs. Treasuries and the dollar rose.

Futures indicated gains for equities in Hong Kong and Australia. The S&P 500 earlier rose 0.8% with megacaps Apple (NASDAQ:), Alphabet (NASDAQ:) and Nike (NYSE:) all notching new record highs. Gains had begun in Asia Thursday when traders returned from holidays to news of policy support from China’s central bank to lift its economy. The pound slid amid concern the U.K. won’t be able to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the European Union by the deadline at the end of this year.

Investors on Friday will get the latest read on the health of the world’s biggest economy, with U.S. ISM manufacturing data due following jobs data showing the labor market remains robust. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week said he expects to sign the first phase of a trade deal with China on Jan. 15, though Beijing has yet to confirm the date.“We will likely see continued gains given that we’ve had a lot of the tensions and challenges that were facing us in 2019 lift,” Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors, told Bloomberg TV. “You have that central bank liquidity. Investors have no reason to be in cash – you should be fully invested and that continues to push up risk assets.”

Elsewhere, pared an earlier advance, while gold climbed. The euro slipped as data showed the region’s manufacturing downturn deepened in December.

Here are some events to watch for this week:

• Federal Open Market Committee minutes will be released on Friday.
• U.S. ISM manufacturing is due Friday. The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI is forecast to show a contraction for a fifth straight month.

These are some of the most recent moves in major markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 0.8% on Thursday.
• Futures on Hong Kong’s earlier gained 0.8%.
• Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1%.

Currencies

• The yen was at 108.54 per dollar.
• The held at 6.9610 per dollar.
• The euro bought $1.1173, down 0.4%.
• The pound lost 0.9% to $1.3141.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell about four basis points to 1.88%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.2% to $61.17 a barrel.
• Gold added 0.8% to $1,528.88 an ounce.

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