Stocks Hold on to Earnings Boost; Treasuries Rally: Markets Wrap: Bloomberg

Global stocks nudged higher as the latest bout of earnings results buoyed sentiment in the technology sector and traders kept an eye on the historic meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea. The dollar advanced and Treasuries extended gains.

10-year Treasury yields edged further below 3 percent, also spurring advances in most other sovereign bond prices. The euro retreated after growth data from France and Spain, while the pound slipped ahead of the U.K.’s latest GDP numbers, and the South Korean won climbed with the summit in focus. Commodities retreated, led lower by oil.

Investors are taking heart from optimistic pronouncements from the likes of Amazon.com Inc., Intel Corp. and Baidu Inc., shaking off what had been a nervous few months in the technology sector. The upbeat mood was bolstered further as geopolitical tensions eased, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossing the border to the south to hold talks over his nuclear weapons program.

Elsewhere, the yen was little changed after the Bank of Japan maintained its stimulus, as expected.

Terminal users can read more in our markets live blog.

Events remaining this week:

• U.S. GDP data are due Friday.

And these are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.1 percent as of 9:02 a.m. London time, the highest in 12 weeks.
• The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.1 percent.
• Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 0.2 percent.
• Germany’s DAX Index gained 0.7 percent to the highest in more than a week on the largest rise in more than a week.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent, the biggest advance in more than a week.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.2 percent to the highest in 15 weeks.
• The euro declined 0.2 percent to $1.2076, the weakest in 15 weeks.
• The British pound fell 0.3 percent to $1.388, the weakest in seven weeks.
• The Japanese yen decreased 0.1 percent to 109.39 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 2.98 percent.
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.58 percent, the lowest in more than a week.
• Britain’s 10-year yield dipped one basis point to 1.489 percent, the lowest in a week.

Commodities

• The Bloomberg Commodity Index declined 0.1 percent.
• Brent crude declined 0.2 percent to $74.61 a barrel.
• Gold climbed less than 0.05 percent to $1,317.41 an ounce.
• LME copper dipped 0.7 percent to $6,916.50 per metric ton, the lowest in more than a week.
• LME aluminum fell 0.6 percent to $2,261.50 per metric ton.

By Eddie van der Walt

— With assistance by Brian Chappatta, and Adam Haigh

April 27, 2018, 6:25 PM GMT+10

Source: Bloomberg