(Bloomberg) — Asian stock futures edged higher on Thursday as U.S. stocks rebounded into after-hours trading on better-than-expected earnings from tech giants.
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While Australian shares rose, benchmark contracts in Japan and Hong Kong also rose. U.S. stock futures rose early in Asia as both the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose more than 1% in trading on Wall Street.
Those gains were further jolted by Meta Platforms Inc., which rose as much as 15% in post-market trading on strong earnings. The company announced its first-ever quarterly dividend of 50 cents a share and authorized an additional $50 billion in share buybacks. Amazon.com's stock price rose about 9% after the bell after the company reported strong sales. The momentum outpaced a decline at Apple Inc., which revealed a deepening recession in China, even though overall sales increased.
“The bottom line is that despite all the concerns plaguing the tech industry, Amazon is performing surprisingly well,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com. .
U.S. Treasuries rallied on Thursday, with the 10-year Treasury yield dropping 3 basis points. The decline extended Wednesday's gains and signaled further worries about U.S. regional banks. Australian yields fell early on Friday, but New Zealand government bonds were stable.
The U.S. regional bank index is on pace for its worst week since last May, in the aftermath of the banking crisis. The decline came after Citizens Financial Group's CEO said the problems that led to the collapse of several lenders last year are largely a thing of the past.
Gold rose for a fourth session on Thursday on signs of demand for safe-haven assets.
Traders will focus on Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls numbers, which are expected to show a slowdown in new jobs being added to the economy. Separate statistics released Thursday showed an increase in jobless claims, suggesting a softening labor market.
“Traders are not giving up on the possibility of a sooner-than-expected rate cut,” said Fawad Razaqzada of City Index and Forex.com. “These expectations could rise even further if upcoming U.S. data turns bearish.”
In Asia, datasets such as South Korea's inflation, Japan's monetary base, and Australia's producer price report will be released.
The dollar index fell on Thursday, reflecting lower U.S. yields, while the yen rose slightly to open little changed on Friday. The British pound was flat after gaining on Thursday, when the Bank of England warned that price pressures could flare up again.
Thursday's rise in U.S. stocks marked a rebound from the previous session, when stocks fell after the Federal Reserve resisted the prospect of cutting interest rates in March.
Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America and Barclays are among the last holdouts on Wall Street, which had expected the Fed to begin lowering benchmark interest rates as early as March, but the central bank's Expectations for interest rate cuts have been postponed until after the policy ends. Wednesday meeting.
Swap contracts predicting the outcome of upcoming Fed meetings are pricing in about 150 basis points of easing this year, with the first move fully priced in May.
Oil prices fell on Thursday as Bloomberg News reported that negotiations were progressing on a deal to suspend the Israel-Hamas war and release civilian hostages.
The main movements in the market are:
stock
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As of 8:04 a.m. Tokyo time, S&P 500 futures were up 0.5%.
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Hang Seng futures rose 0.6%.
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Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%
currency
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The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.5%.
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The euro was almost unchanged at $1.0876.
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The Japanese yen remained almost unchanged at 146.41 yen to the dollar.
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The offshore yuan was almost unchanged at 7.1879 yuan to the dollar.
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The Australian dollar was almost unchanged at US$0.6575.
cryptocurrency
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Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $42,903.16.
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Ether fell 0.3% to $2,295.89.
bond
merchandise
This article was produced in partnership with Bloomberg Automation.
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