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Global stocks rose and U.S. futures were steady Monday, as investors focused on upcoming corporate earnings and rising interest rates with U.S. exchanges shut in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225
NIK,
rose 0.7% in Tokyo while the Hang Seng
HSI,
retreated, with little movement generated by the People’s Bank of China decision to cut interest rates on its one-year facility by 10 basis points. The Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
rose 0.6% in afternoon action.
In morning action, the S&P TSX 60
SPTSE,
gained 0.3% in Toronto.
U.S. stock futures
ES00,
were little changed in electronic action, following two weeks in which the S&P 500
SPX,
has retreated by 2%. The tech heavy Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
has dropped 5% this year.
“Historically, the start of the year has been a poor indicator of what is to come for investment markets,” said Stuart Kirk, global head of research and responsible investments at HSBC Asset Management. Since the global financial crisis, the average MSCI World return to the end of the year following a negative first seven trading days has been nearly 11%, edging out the index performance after a positive first seven trading days, he notes.
Corporate earnings are due from the banking sector, with Bank of America
BAC,
and Morgan Stanley
MS,
set to release results, as well as more airlines and streaming giant Netflix
NFLX,
expected to report results.
U.K. stocks have outperformed their U.S. counterparts as investors rotate into value sectors with bond yields on the rise. “We believe this move has further to run over coming months. The U.K. still looks excessively cheap, with a price/earnings ratio some 30% lower than the rest of the world, and the U.S. excessively expensive with a valuation premium as high as 50%,” said Rupert Thompson, chief investment officer at U.K. wealth management firm Kingswood.
