Stocks Advance Amid Low Volumes; Oil Steady: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose Tuesday as investors braced for a busy week of U.S. corporate earnings and potential developments in trade negotiations. Oil stabilized after recent gains amid tensions in the Persian Gulf.

Shares in Tokyo outperformed, while equities also rose in Sydney and Seoul. Gains were more modest in Hong Kong and Shanghai was little changed. U.S. futures saw slight gains after technology shares led an advance on Wall Street Monday. Trading has been thin across the region, with volumes below average. The yen weakened as the dollar gained against major peers. Treasury yields headed higher. New Zealand’s dollar slipped on news that its central bank has done contingency planning for unconventional monetary stimulus.

As China’s so-called Star board of tech companies started its second day of trading, all but four of the listings dropped after a torrid debut Monday saw mammoth gains. Corporate earnings are in focus this week as investors look for signs of an economic slowdown and any indication that trade strife is affecting profits.

On the trade front, the U.S. and China are moving closer to their first face-to-face trade negotiations in months, with a meeting between tech executives and senior White House officials on Monday expected to mark another step toward easing a ban on sales to China’s Huawei Technologies Co.

“Markets feel poised for some increased volatility,” Nick Twidale, director and co-founder of financial technology platform X-Chainge, said in a note to clients. On U.S. earnings, “traders will be looking to see how much trade issues have affected the bottom line of some of the big players, although news the talks between the two trading superpowers could resume next week should support underlying sentiment,” he added.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announced a bipartisan deal to suspend the U.S. government’s borrowing limit and boost government spending levels for two years.

Elsewhere, the British pound added to losses after a forecast showed Brexit may have already pushed the U.K. into a technical recession, and ahead of the announcement of Prime Minister Theresa May’s replacement.

Here are some key events coming up:

• Earnings season rolls on with companies including: Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Unilever (LON:ULVR), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) and Boeing (NYSE:BA).
• U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s successor is announced on Tuesday, with Boris Johnson expected to become the new Conservative leader and PM.
• Thursday brings the European Central Bank policy decision. Economists widely expect officials to signal their readiness to cut interest rates and potentially broaden stimulus. Some see the chance of an immediate rate cut. ECB President Mario Draghi holds a briefing afterward.

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These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• Japan’s Topix index rose 1% as of 1:54 p.m. in Tokyo.
• South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.5%.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% each.
• S&P 500 Index futures rose 0.1%. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% Monday.

Currencies

• The yen slipped 0.3% to 108.14 per dollar.
• The offshore yuan traded at 6.8845 per dollar.
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%.
• The euro dipped to $1.1191.
• The British pound was at $1.2456, down 0.2%.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 1 basis point to near 2.06%.
• Australia’s 10-year bond yield slipped 1 basis point at 1.32%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $56.27 a barrel.
• Gold lost 0.5% to $1,417.13 an ounce.