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Opening Bell: China Data Beat Boosts U.S. Futures In Key NFP Week; Oil Surges

Published 02/12/2019, 12:46
Updated 02/09/2020, 07:05

  • Global stocks surge on China's manufacturing data beat
  • U.S. futures set S&P 500, Dow for new records
  • Yields surge, resuming rising channel
  • Oil bounces back after Iraq suggests additional OPEC cuts

Key Events

Global markets started the last month of the year with exuberance this morning, as a surprise uptick in Chinese manufacturing boosted equities along with hopes that the economy might be in for a rebound.

The data beat from China, along with a record $7.4 billion Black Friday sales in the U.S., pumped markets with newfound vigor after Friday’s lackluster close on Wall Street, which came in the context of a three-month global rally. U.S. factory and jobs numbers coming out this week could be the next data stimulus investors need to hold onto record equity prices.

The wild card, however, remains the U.S.-China trade dispute. The manufacturing data turnaround may add to China’s recent record sale of dollar-denominated government bonds—which highlighted widespread faith in the Chinese economy—to harden the country's trade position.

Chinese officials were reported on Sunday to be seeking the removal of all existing tariffs in order to sign any phase-one deal. The U.S., as of now, has shown willingness to discard only the upcoming Dec. 15 round of tariffs.

Futures on the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones signaled their underlying benchmarks were set to open at the highest prices seen to date, while contracts on the NASDAQ 100 and Russell 2000 remained below their records—though they still edged higher.

Global Financial Affairs

In Europe, shares of miners and energy companies pushed the STOXX 600 to within 0.05% from its November highs, which hit the closest price to the April 2015 all-time highs—about 1.3% below that mark. However, the index slipped below neutral levels by late European morning.

USD/JPY Daily Chart

Earlier in Asia, regional equities peaked mid-session, as momentum eased after the initial surprise of China's upbeat data.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 (+1.01%) led the gains as the yen (-0.15%) fell to the lowest level since May 21, extending the breakout of a bottom for the USD/JPY pair.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (+0.37%) managed to climb despite the resumption of clashes between protesters and police.

UST 10-year Daily Chart

In the bond market, yields on 10-year Treasurys surged the most since Nov. 7 and—similarly to what happened then—rates returned above the downtrend line since November 2018, picking up a rising channel since the September bottom.

In the commodities space, WTI rebounded from Friday's selloff of more than 5%, after Iraq's oil minster shocked the market on Sunday by saying that this week’s OPEC+ meeting may yield a deeper production cut—contradicting recent signals from the oil producers' group. Technically, the price resumed its rising channel since the October bottom.

Up Ahead

  • U.S. ISM manufacturing and construction spending on Monday.
  • Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering is scheduled to be priced on Thursday.
  • U.S. nonfarm payrolls, coming out on Friday, are expected to have risen by 190,000 in November.

Market Moves

Stocks

  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4%.
  • The MSCI Emerging Market Index climbed 0.1%.
  • Currencies

  • The Dollar was up 0.05%.
  • The euro was little changed at $1.102.
  • The British pound was little changed at $1.2922.
  • The onshore yuan slid 0.1% to 7.042 per dollar.
  • The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 109.63 per dollar.
  • Bonds

    • The yield on 10-year Treasurys gained six basis points to 1.84%.

  • The yield on 2-year Treasurys climbed three basis points to 1.64%.
    • Germany’s 10-year yield edged six basis points higher to -0.30%.

    • Britain’s 10-year yield ticked five basis points higher to 0.75%.

  • Japan’s 10-year yield gained three basis points to -0.045%.
  • Commodities

  • West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 1.5% to $56.01 a barrel.
  • Iron ore rose 1.8% to $86.07 per metric ton.
    • Gold lost 0.5% to $1,456.63 an ounce.

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