(Bloomberg) – European stocks followed a tech-led rally in Asia as investors awaited key U.S. jobs data to be released later on Friday. The yen rose to a three-week high.
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The Stoxx 600 rose 0.2%, with technology stocks contributing the most to the benchmark's gains. U.S. futures pointed to further strength on Wall Street after Apple Inc.'s better-than-expected profits. In Asia, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and Jingdong Market hit new 2024 highs, while Hong Kong stocks rose for nine consecutive sessions.
U.S. non-farm jobs data will be the next big trigger for markets after Federal Reserve Secretary Jerome Powell effectively ended discussion of a potential interest rate hike earlier in the week. The expected increase in employment by 240,000 would be the lowest level since November.
The dollar index fell for the first time in three days, but US Treasuries were firm. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell about 8 basis points this week to 4.58%.
Option traders brace for biggest S&P job day swing of the year
According to a survey conducted by 22V Research, 30% of investors surveyed believe Friday's jobs report will be a “risk-on” response, while 27% expected a “risk-off” reaction and 43% expected a “risk-off” reaction. answered, “Very mixed/can be ignored.” The aggregate results revealed that among labor indicators, investors pay the most attention to average hourly wages.
“Markets will be hungry for any data that suggests the economy is not as heated as it was in the first quarter,” said Chris Larkin of Morgan Stanley's E-Trade.
Company highlights:
Société Générale SA's first-quarter profit beat expectations, boosted by strong performance from equity traders, and outperformed bond traders for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Crédit Agricole also posted a net profit that exceeded analysts' expectations, with support from its corporate and investment banking divisions. The French financial institution has achieved its goal of reaching 6 billion euros ($6.4 billion) in annual adjusted profit in 2024, a year ahead of schedule.
Danske Bank, on the other hand, left its full-year net profit forecast unchanged as pre-tax profit exceeded analysts' expectations due to contributions from large corporate and institutional businesses.
The yen had its best week since December 2022. The yen is likely to receive public support, with estimates suggesting that Japan has spent more than $20 billion in its latest intervention.
story continues
This week's main events:
Eurozone unemployment rate, Friday
US unemployment rate, non-farm payrolls, ISM services, Friday
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsby speaks on Friday
The main movements in the market are:
stock
As of 8:32 a.m. London time, the Stoxx European 600 was up 0.2%.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%
Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.6%.
MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7%
MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.6%
currency
Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index little changed
The euro was almost unchanged at $1.0730.
The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 153.19 yen to the dollar.
The offshore yuan was almost unchanged at 7.2038 yuan to the dollar.
The British pound was almost unchanged at $1.2545.
cryptocurrency
Bitcoin rises 1% to $59,342.51
Ether remains almost unchanged at $2,983.85
bond
The 10-year government bond yield was almost unchanged at 4.59%.
Germany's 10-year bond yield was little changed at 2.54%.
UK 10-year bond yield remains unchanged at 4.28%
merchandise
Brent crude rose 0.5% to $84.07 per barrel
Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,300 an ounce.
This article was produced in partnership with Bloomberg Automation.
—With assistance from Charlotte Yang.
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