European stocks climbed with U.S. equity futures at the end of a bruising week in which escalating trade tensions dominated the market landscape. The pound rose after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May laid out a timetable to quit.
Miners pushed the Stoxx Europe 600 index higher, while futures on the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq 100 also rose in the wake of steep declines a day earlier. Shares in Asia edged higher, with Chinese equities little changed and Indian stocks rebounding. Despite the gains, a gauge of global equities is headed for a third straight weekly drop, its longest losing streak of the year.
Sterling fluctuated in a range before settling higher after May announced she will step down as party leader June 7. The rally in sovereign bonds showed signs of easing after yields on 10-year Treasuries touched the lowest since 2017. Oil climbed following the biggest slide since December on Thursday.
Ahead of a long weekend for both the U.S. and U.K., concerns are mounting that the trade dispute could cripple global growth, with disappointing American factory data Thursday hinting at the fragility of the expansion. After the close on Wall Street, President Donald Trump said that Huawei Technologies Co., which was put on a U.S. blacklist earlier this month, could be part of any trade pact with China.
“The trade war is going to cause growth to slow, both in the U.S. and China, and therefore globally -- there is no doubt about that,” Komal Sri-Kumar, founder and president of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies Inc., told Bloomberg TV in New York. “The trade war is taking on new dimensions.”
Elsewhere, Australia’s 10-year bond yield reached another all-time low amid calls for as many as three central bank interest-rate cuts this year. The yuan was largely flat on signs of stabilization from China’s central bank this week.
And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.7 per cent as of 10:53 a.m. London time, the largest advance in more than a week. Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.5 per cent. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.7 per cent, the largest advance in more than a week. The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.4 per cent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.2 per cent.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined less than 0.05%, the lowest in more than a week. The euro rose 0.1 per cent to US$1.1189, the strongest in more than a week. The British pound increased 0.3 per cent to US$1.2691, the biggest increase in three weeks. The Japanese yen was unchanged at 109.61 per dollar, the strongest in more than a week.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained one basis point to 2.33 per cent. Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.966 per cent. Germany’s 10-year yield increased less than one basis point to -0.12 per cent.
Commodities
Gold declined 0.1 per cent to US$1,282.16 an ounce. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1 per cent to US$58.53 a barrel, the biggest advance in more than a week.
--With assistance from Adam Haigh
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