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New York – US stocks rebounded from a weekly slide, while the dollar weakened as traders returned from a long weekend that failed to deliver major geopolitical events that threaten global growth. Treasuries held gains amid soft inflation data in America.
The S&P 500 Index rose the most in two weeks, though trading was light with many key markets still shut for Easter. Bloomberg’s Dollar Spot Index slipped to the weakest in three weeks while the yield on 10-year Treasuries held near a November low.
Gains in gold and the yen faded. Turkey’s lira jumped as much as 2.4% after a vote expanded powers for the president. Copper jumped after China’s economic growth accelerated.
Investors turned less cautious as the new week dawned after macro news and events piled up over the long weekend, from inflation data casting doubt on the pace of Fed rate hikes and the US decision not to label any countries currency manipulators to North Korea’s failed ballistic missile launch and Turkey’s referendum. Faster growth in China boosted optimism about the strength of the global economy before the earnings season ramps up.
“Geopolitical uncertainty weighed on global markets over the holiday weekend,” Cole Akeson, a strategist at Sberbank CIB in Moscow, wrote in an emailed note.
“However, the macro data out of China this morning was slightly better than expected. For global markets generally and European markets in particular, the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday is probably the biggest planned event of the week.”
Here’s what investors are watching this week:
- Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and most major European markets won’t reopen until Tuesday.
- The annual spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund take place in Washington.
- Companies reporting this week include Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group, International Business Machines, Netflix, Heineken and Unilever.
Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- The S&P 500 index rose 0.5% to 2 339.76 at 10:25 in New York.
- The gauge lost 1.1% for the holiday-shortened week.
- The MSCI Emerging Market Index slid 0.1%. European markets were closed.
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3% to the lowest in three weeks.
- The euro rose 0.3% to $1.0648.
- The British pound strengthened 0.2% to $1.2547, the strongest in more than two weeks.
- The Turkish lira rose 1.4% to 3.6565 per dollar.
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell less than one basis points to 2.23%, the lowest in about five months.
Commodities
- Gold rose 0.1% to $1 286.78 an ounce.
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $53.06 a barrel, the lowest in more than a week.
- The US continued to ramp up drilling, stoking concerns the nation’s surge in output this year will counter OPEC-led efforts to cut a global supply surplus.
- Iron ore fell 2% to 500.5 yuan per metric ton, the lowest in more than 14 weeks.
Asia
- The yen extended gains at a five-month high amid persistent concern over the situation with North Korea, but trimmed much of its advance.
- Chinese shares tumbled even as the country’s GDP strengthened, while Japanese stocks rose amid speculation recent selling was overdone.
