(Bloomberg) — Asian stocks were poised to advance and major currencies edged higher versus the dollar early Monday amid positive sentiment for riskier assets after a rebound on Wall Street and expectations for less aggressive monetary tightening.
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Equity futures pointed to gains in Japan and Australia in trading that will be thinner than usual with major centers including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Seoul closed for Lunar New Year celebrations. Many regional markets will remain closed until midweek and mainland China trading won’t resume until Jan. 30.
The S&P 500 Index rose for the first time in four days on Friday, with all 11 sectors gaining. While the broad benchmark remained down on the week, the biggest one-day gain in the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 since November pushed it into the green for the period. Google parent Alphabet Inc. climbed after revealing a plan to cut 12,000 jobs. Netflix Inc. surged after reporting stronger-than-expected subscriber numbers.
Bond yields climbed in Australia and New Zealand on Monday, tracking moves in US Treasuries. Japan’s benchmark 10-year yield is due to open later well below the central bank’s 0.5% ceiling after ending last week 10 basis points below that level.
Traders weighing risk sentiment were taking their cues from US central bankers Friday. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said policy looked pretty close to sufficiently restrictive and he backed moderation in the size of rate increases. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker repeated his view for more incremental steps in rate hikes and Kansas City Fed chief Esther George said the economy can avoid a sharp downturn.
Oil rallied to the highest since mid-November Friday, capping off its second straight week of gains on optimism over increased demand from China. Gold rose for a fifth week.
Key events this week:
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Earnings for the week include: Abbott Laboratories, American Airlines, American Express, AT&T, Blackstone, Boeing, Colgate-Palmolive, Freeport-McMoRan, General Electric, Intel, International Business Machines, Johnson & Johnson, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Mastercard, Nokia, SAP, Southwest Airlines, Texas Instruments, Verizon Communications, Visa
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Euro area consumer confidence, Monday
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US Conference Board leading index, Monday
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ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks, Monday
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PMIs for US, euro area, UK, Japan, Tuesday
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Richmond Fed Manufacturing, Tuesday
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ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks, Tuesday
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US MBA mortgage applications, Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing activity, Wednesday
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US fourth-quarter GDP, new home sales, initial jobless claims, good trade balance, durable goods, wholesale inventories, retail inventories, Thursday
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Japan Tokyo CPI, Friday
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US personal income/spending, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, pending home sales, Friday
Here are some of the main market moves as of 7 am Tokyo time:
Stocks
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The S&P 500 rose 1.9% Friday and the Nasdaq 100 rose 2.9%
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Nikkei 225 futures rose 1.4%
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Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures rose 0.5%
Currencies
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The euro was little changed at $1.0866
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The Japanese yen was little changed at 129.49 per dollar
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The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6966
Bonds
Commodities
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West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.3% to $81.64 a barrel on Friday
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Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,926.08 an ounce on Friday
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Stephen Kirkland.
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