HONG KONG — Global stocks were mixed and European shares edged higher on Friday after a global bond sell-off deepened and ahead of a U.S. monthly jobs report due later in the day.
Oil prices declined even as the U.S. sent another aircraft carrier and more troops to the Middle East, and as President Donald Trump threatened more possible escalations against Iran.
In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.5 per cent to 10,485.00. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.6 per cent to 7,883.49, while Germany’s DAX was up 0.8 per cent to 25,129.78. That came a day after Europe’s benchmark stock indexes fell sharply as government bond yields shot up.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 per cent to 68,309.46. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.5 per cent to 7,003.74. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.6 per cent to 23,972.29, hitting the lowest level since July. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8 per cent to 8,682.10. Taiwan’s Taiex advanced 0.3 per cent.
Markets in mainland China were closed for a holiday.
U.S. futures edged up after U.S. Treasury yields held steadier early Friday.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury was at around 5.24 per cent, after it reached 5.34 per cent on Thursday, the highest since 2002. It crossed the 5 per cent mark last month, as inflationary pressure from the global energy shock driven by the Iran war and rising U.S. government debt pushed investors to demand higher returns.
The 5 per cent level on the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield has been an “important psychological threshold” for investors, David Clewell, a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price, said in a commentary this week.
Factoring in the U.S.’s resilient economic growth, there is a “credible” likelihood that the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield can rise toward 5.5 per cent to 6 per cent, Clewell suggested. Ballooning bond yields have been putting downward pressure on stock markets, as higher borrowing costs can undercut stock returns.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite rose less than 0.1 per cent.
Investors and traders are monitoring closely the U.S. monthly jobs report for September to be released on Friday, as the data could provide more insight into the likelihood of an October interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, after the Fed raised rates in September for the first time in three years.
Oil prices declined early Friday as uncertainties surrounding the prospect of a de-escalation between the U.S. and Iran dragged on.
The U.S. military is deploying thousands of troops aboard a group of ships, including a third aircraft carrier, to the Middle East, according to a U.S. official on Thursday, after Trump on Wednesday threatened to “blow them up” or make a deal, referring to Iran, in an exchange with reporters.
Brent crude, the international standard, lost 2.3 per cent to below US$100 a barrel, at $99.95, after advancing on Thursday. That’s still well above the approximately $72 per barrel level in late February before the war.
The U.S. dollar fell to 157.63 Japanese yen from 158.09 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1255, up from $1.1244.
Chan Ho-him, The Associated Press