Stocks Rise, Dollar Slips Amid China Covid Shift: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Equities climbed Tuesday while the dollar declined amid positive sentiment from China’s rollback of Covid isolation measures and the cooling of a key inflation measure in the US.

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Chinese, Japanese and South Korean shares rose, with travel and consumer goods stocks higher in Tokyo and Seoul after China moved to end quarantine for inbound visitors.

Futures contracts for US and European equities also advanced, supported by data on Friday that showed the Federal Reserve’s closely watched measure of inflation cooling and consumer spending stagnating.

Indexes of US, Asian and global stocks still remain down about 20% this year, which is the worst annual performance since 2008.

Oil rose on the outlook for demand from China as the economy reopens, and as freezing weather across the US prompted refinery closures.

Gold edged higher, trading above $1,800 an ounce as risk assets gained.

The offshore yuan added slightly to its advance overnight on China’s announcement that it would drop quarantine for inbound travelers early next month. The Thai baht and the South Korean won also appreciated. A gauge of dollar strength declined.

Yields on US Treasuries inched lower as they resumed trading after the benchmark 10-year rate increased the most last week since early April. It was around 3.73% on Tuesday.

Equities markets in Hong Kong and Australia remain closed Tuesday.

Key events this week:

• US wholesale inventories, Tuesday

• BOJ summary of opinions of Dec. 19-20 meeting, Wednesday

• US initial jobless claims, Thursday

• ECB publishes economic bulletin, Thursday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.6% as of 12:37 p.m. Tokyo time

• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.8%

• Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.9%

• Japan’s Topix index rose 0.5%

• South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.5%

• The Shanghai Composite rose 0.8%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%

• The euro was unchanged at $1.0637

• The Japanese yen was little changed at 132.89 per dollar

• The offshore yuan rose 0.1% to 6.9683 per dollar

• The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6733

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $16,861.81

• Ether rose 0.5% to $1,222.74

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.73%

• Japan’s 10-year yield advanced one-and-a-half basis points to 0.46%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $80.07 a barrel

• Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,804.59 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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