Global stocks advance with dollar before jobs data as gold drops
By Bloomberg
Stocks rose around the world, with the European benchmark index recovering from its biggest loss in 15 months, and the dollar strengthened before a U.S. jobs report. Most government bonds retreated and gold was close to erasing this year's advance.
The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.1 percent at 10:11 a.m. in London, rebounding from its lowest level since April. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.5 percent, and Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures added 0.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index increased 0.6 percent, opening after a two-day break. The dollar rose versus all but one of its 16 major peers. German 10-year yields rose two basis points to 0.92 percent and the rate on similar-maturity U.K. gilts increased three basis points to 2.36 percent. Gold fell 0.6 percent.
Today's U.S. jobs report will help investors assess the strength of the world's largest economy. Analysts forecast a return to gains of more than 200,000 in monthly nonfarm payrolls. European shares slumped yesterday on concern the European Central Bank asset-buying plan won't be enough to revive growth and ward off deflation. Shares in Hong Kong reversed earlier losses after a city official agreed to talks to diffuse a week-long pro-democracy protest.
"People will be poring over U.S. data today to see if the economy is strong enough for the Fed to start raising interest rates," Andrea Williams, who helps oversee 50 billion pounds ($80 billion) at Royal London Asset Management, said by phone from London. "It's a bit of a bounce for European markets from yesterday's selloff. The lack of new news from ECB yesterday disappointed markets. The ECB is still there in the background, ready to do more if needed."
Weekly Drop
The MSCI All-Country World Index rose today, trimming its weekly decline to 2.3 percent.
The Stoxx 600 rose, rebounding from its lowest level since Aug. 15. It's heading for a 2.5 percent weekly drop. All industry groups increased today, with banks posting some of the biggest gains after a 3.3 percent slump yesterday.
EasyJet Plc advanced 6.7 percent after saying full-year pretax profit jumped at least 20 percent.
Iliad SA fell 1.7 percent after people familiar with the matter said it plans to bid for a bigger stake in Deutsche Telekom AG's U.S. unit than it originally sought.
Index Futures
Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in rose today after the index closed little changed, near its lowest level since Aug. 12. It's fallen 1.9 percent this week, a second consecutive decline for the first time since May.
U.S. employers hired 215,000 workers in September, according to the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. The Labor Department report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Payrolls rose by a worse-than-estimated 142,000 people in the previous month, the first increase of less than 200,000 since January. Data from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Research Institute showed this week that U.S. companies employed more workers last month than predicted.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index headed for a seventh weekly gain, its longest run since June 2010, as improving U.S. data adds to speculation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next year.
The dollar rose 0.4 percent to 108.90 yen, after touching 110.09 yen on Oct. 1, the strongest level since 2008. It gained 0.3 percent to $1.2631 per euro.
The U.S. currency has jumped 6.7 percent in the past three months, the best performer of 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The yen weakened 0.5 percent and the euro declined 1.8 percent.
Higher Rates
Traders saw a 74 percent chance the Fed will raise its target for overnight lending between banks by its September 2015 meeting, futures data compiled by Bloomberg showed yesterday. Policy makers have kept the target rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since 2008 to support the economy.
The yen fell the most in a week versus the dollar as the Bank of Japan bought a record 3.5 trillion yen ($32.2 billion) in treasury bills, part of its policy of monetary easing to spur inflation. Japan's currency also fell as central bank Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said a lower exchange rate isn't a minus for the economy overall and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged assistance for smaller companies hurt by the yen's drop.
Treasuries were little changed before the nonfarm payrolls data after declining yesterday. The 10-year yield was at 2.44 percent. Bonds in Europe were mostly lower as investors weighed the prospects for additional ECB easing measures following yesterday's interest-rate decision. France's 10-year yield increased two basis points to 1.27 percent and the rate on similar-maturity Dutch debt climbed to 1.07 percent.
Peripheral Countries
The average yield on bonds sold by companies in Europe's peripheral countries fell to a record 1.19 percent this week, while those in the region's core countries dropped to an all- time low of 1.24 percent, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. The yield difference widened to 0.06 percentage point yesterday, the biggest since September 2009.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 0.4 percent, halting a six-day slump that sent the measure to its most oversold level since June 2013 and valuations to the lowest since May 13.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong rose 0.4 percent. The city's top official Leung Chun-ying agreed to demands by student leaders for talks, nominating his his deputy, after protests disrupted some of the city's busiest areas.
China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. added 6.1 percent after policy makers eased property curbs.
Taiex Jump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. helped send Taiwan's Taiex Index to its biggest advance in a year. Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman William Tseng will announce measures to boost the stock market as early as next week, the Commercial Times reported, without saying where it got the information.
Indonesian shares dropped 1 percent on concern President- elect Joko Widodo will struggle to implement reforms.
Russian equities ended a two-day loss, with the Micex Index adding 0.6 percent. The gauge is down 3.5 percent this week, the most since July. The ruble depreciated for the sixth time in seven days, losing 0.3 percent versus the dollar.
Gold for immediate delivery fell 0.5 percent to $1,208.28 an ounce, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The precious metal retreated 0.8 percent this week, cutting its 2014 increase to 0.6 percent. Platinum fell as much as 2.1 percent to $1,241.63 an ounce, the lowest since 2009.
Brent crude oil gained 0.2 percent to $93.60 a barrel. It fell for three days on speculation that Saudi Arabia will maintain output amid swelling supplies from the U.S. and Russia and signs of slowing demand.
--With assistance from Emma O'Brien in Wellington, Adam Haigh in Sydney, Kana Nishizawa in Hong Kong and Paul Dobson, Abigail Moses, John Deane, Zahra Hankir and Namitha Jagadeesh in London.
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