Bond Selloff Pauses, Stocks Tread Water as Traders Watch for Yen Intervention
The global selloff in sovereign debt paused and equity markets moved sideways in early European trade as investors were on alert for further currency intervention after the Japanese yen surged against the dollar.
The yen rose by more than 1% against the dollar to a near one-month high. Traders are betting that Japanese authorities could once again intervene to support the currency. Markets are pricing in a 77% chance of a Bank of Japan rate hike later this month, according to LSEG.
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The greenback followed U.S. Treasury yields lower after New York Fed President John Williams signaled in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that he didn't see any urgency to raise interest rates.
Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasurys slipped by 0.9 basis point to 4.775% after hitting a near three-year high of 4.818% Wednesday. Yields on 30-year Treasurys fell by 1.5 basis points to 5.245%. Eurozone and U.K. government bonds tracked Treasurys lower.
In equity markets, U.S. futures were little moved after major indexes snapped a three-day losing streak in the last session. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average nudged up 0.1%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were flat.
Broadcom shares slipped 1.9% in premarket trade after the chip designer's earnings fell short of investors' expectations. Hewlett Packard Enterprise stock slid 6% premarket even after the computing group lifted its long-term growth targets, as analysts warned that slowing artificial-intelligence revenue growth could hurt investor sentiment.
Asian stock indexes largely rose, with technology names benefiting from Broadcom's bullish outlook for chip sales, while European stocks were little moved in early trade.
Brent crude edged below $95 a barrel. Prices remained elevated as renewed strikes between the U.S. and Iran added to investor pessimism that the current no-deal status quo will persist, Goldman Sachs analysts said.
Gold rose by more than 1% on the softer dollar to $4,472.20, while bitcoin edged 0.5% higher to $77,728.01.
Investors will watch for final services and composite August PMI data in the U.S. and Europe, before attention turns to Friday's nonfarm payroll data. A hotter-than-expected jobs print could pile further pressure on the Fed to raise rates when it meets later this month.
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