Europe’s Stoxx 600 index gained 0.32%, supported by upbeat earnings reports, after increasing 1.1% the previous day
European stocks rose on Wednesday, boosted by company earnings, while U.S. futures were flat and the dollar jumped as investors evaluated the signals on the path for Fed interest rates.
The yen dropped even with the threat of currency intervention from Japanese authorities to support it. Oil prices were near two-month lows.
Europe’s Stoxx 600 index gained 0.32% on Wednesday, supported by upbeat earnings reports, after increasing 1.1% the previous day. Germany’s DAX jumped 0.45% and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.35%.
Global stocks dropped sharply in April as strong U.S. economic data caused investors to rein in their bets on rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and other major central banks this year.
But they have rallied again in May, partly bolstered by Friday’s nonfarm payrolls jobs report, which showed a cooling in the hot U.S. labour market.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari suggested the U.S. central bank may still need to delay interest rate cuts this year due to sticky inflation.
The market is trying to suss out whether data, especially out of the U.S., is still coming out strong, or is coming out just right, according to Samuel Zief, head of global FX strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank.
Things in this week so far are more driven by the micro than the macro: Company-specific earnings releases and things like that have been driving things, he said.
U.S. stock futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes were little changed on Wednesday. Four consecutive sessions of gains for the S&P has put it within 1.5% of the record high hit in March.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.45% overnight.
