Nasdaq Futures Jump; Yen Drop Shakes Up Currencies: Markets Wrap
- Yen touches 130 per dollar as BOJ pursues monetary easing
- Meta’s surge in late U.S. trading bolsters Nasdaq 100 futures
U.S. equity futures rose Thursday amid steadier investor sentiment following a surge in Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc., while a sinking yen stirred a bout of volatility in currency markets.
European and S&P 500 contracts were in the green and those for the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 jumped over 1%. An Asia-Pacific share index tracked a modest gain in Wall Street stocks.
Meta jumped 18% in extended trading after Facebook’s main social network added more users than projected. That brightened the mood toward megacap U.S. tech firms and bolstered the biggest ETF that tracks the Nasdaq 100.
The yen slid to the closely watched level of 130 per dollar after the Bank of Japan doubled down on dovish policy, saying it would carry out fixed-rate bond buying every business day to defend its 10-year yield target.
The yen’s drop spurred wider foreign-exchange swings: the dollar extended an advance, the offshore yuan sank and the euro retreated along with the pound.
Treasuries were little changed as investors calibrated risks from the prospect of aggressive Federal Reserve monetary tightening to tackle high inflation.
Volatility remains the watchword in markets, stoked by China’s struggle to suppress Covid, Russia’s war in Ukraine and worries that Fed tightening may tip the world’s largest economy into a recession. There are lingering hopes that robust U.S. corporate earnings could improve the mood.
“The uncertainty factor is some of the highest we’ve seen in the course of the last number of years,” Kate Moore, BlackRock global allocation team head of thematic strategy, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “There are so many crosscurrents. And against that backdrop, it’s hard to see volatility come down dramatically.”
In China, officials have stepped up pledges of economic assistance amid Covid lockdowns. The latest move was a vow to stabilize employment, following President Xi Jinping’s pledge for more infrastructure spending. The virus outbreak in Shanghai continued to show signs of moderating.
Elsewhere, oil dropped toward $100 a barrel, gold retreated and Bitcoin struggled to break above $40,000.
What will be the 2022 peak in U.S. 10-year yields and in which quarter will it happen? And what rock or pop song best encapsulates Fed monetary policy? Get involved in this week’s MLIV Pulse survey by clicking here. Participation takes one minute and is anonymous.