HONG KONG (AP) — U.S. markets pointed higher early Friday but for the first time in a month, major indexes are all at risk of closing the week in negative territory.
The futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent and Nasdaq futures climbed 0.6 per cent.
For the week, the Dow and the S&P are down 1.81 per cent and 1.85 per cent respectively before the opening bell, and the Nasdaq is down 2.48 per cent. It would be the second consecutive week of losses for the Dow.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week attempted to put a lid on longer-term borrowing costs which have weighed on markets, but the results have been muted.
The Treasury announced Wednesday that it will at least double the size of its planned purchases of longer-term government debt, and Bessent signaled Thursday that the repurchase program could be larger.
The announcement temporarily brought down government bond yields, which have been elevated by concerns about high inflation partly caused by the war in Iran and rising U.S. government debt.
But economists believe the effect on bond yields is temporary. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury was around 4.70 per cent, up from nearly 4.64 per cent on Thursday and back near its level before the Treasury Department’s announcement.
The 30-year Treasury yield was about 5.25 per cent, up from 5.18 per cent on Thursday.
In Asia, bond yields also rose. Japan’s 10-year government bond yield, which had been trading near 30-year highs, rose to about 2.88 per cent from around 2.83 per cent on Thursday.
In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.1 per cent to 10,752.29. France’s CAC 40 was nearly unchanged at 8,454.20. Germany’s DAX rose 0.1 per cent to 26,015.14.
Oil prices are essentially flat as the U.S. stepped up its economic threats toward Iran due to limited progress in talks between Washington and Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.1 per cent to US$93.67 a barrel. It was trading at roughly US$72 per barrel before the start of the war. Benchmark U.S. crude was down 0.1 per cent to US$86.77 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar declined to 158.70 Japanese yen from 159.05 yen. The euro was trading at US$1.1702, up from US$1.1678.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 per cent to 66,016.36. Japan on Friday reported that headline inflation rose to 1.9 per cent in July, in part due to higher oil prices resulting from the war with Iran.
South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.9 per cent to 6,912.95. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2 per cent to 26,009.46, while the Shanghai Composite index added less than 0.1 per cent to 3,905.20.
Chan Ho-him And Michelle Chapman, The Associated Press
