BLBG:Index Futures Rise, Commodities Advance Before U.S. Jobs
European equity futures gained, commodities rebounded from the biggest drop this year and the Australian dollar strengthened ahead of data that may show U.S. jobless claims fell to a four-year low.
Euro Stoxx 50 Index futures climbed 0.6 percent as of 7:04 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.2 percent. The S&P GSCI Index of commodities added 0.5 percent. Australia’s currency gained 0.3 percent, while the yen advanced against most of its major peers. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) was little changed, trimming an earlier slump of as much as 1.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index rallied 1.2 percent as trading resumed after a three-day holiday.
U.S. jobless claims probably dropped by 4,000 last week to 355,000, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the report today. The U.S. government is also set to release a March employment report tomorrow that may show a fourth straight month of jobs growth above 200,000. France will sell bonds due from 2017 to 2041 later today.
“Good employment figures in the U.S. are likely to bolster confidence in the U.S. recovery,” said Takuya Kawabata, a researcher at Gaitame.com Research Institute Ltd. in Tokyo, a unit of Japan’s largest currency-margin company.
Chinese Banks Slump
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 0.9 percent, paring an earlier drop of as much as 2.4 percent. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. fell 1.6 percent in Hong Kong after Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday that China needs to break a “monopoly” of a few big lenders. Taiwan’s Taiex Index slid 1.6 percent after Schive Chi, the chairman of the stock exchange, said the island is likely to impose a capital-gains tax on share transactions.
Markets in Hong Kong, India, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and New Zealand will be shut tomorrow.
The euro was little changed at $1.3154, after yesterday dropping to the weakest level since March 16. Spain sold 2.59 billion euros ($3.4 billion) of bonds, just above the minimum amount it planned for the auction and below the 3.5 billion-euro maximum target. The average yield on the bonds due in October 2016, which act as the five-year benchmark, rose to 4.319 percent from 3.376 percent at last month’s sale.
“Most of Europe is going through a contraction,” said Andrew Salter, a foreign-exchange strategist in Sydney at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “If the peripheral governments cannot make the necessary reforms, in the long term that’s a negative for the euro.”
The cost of insuring bonds from non-payment rose in the Asia-Pacific region, according to traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan advanced 4 basis points to 159.5, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc prices show. The gauge is poised for a second daily increase, according to CMA.
Oil added 0.7 percent to $102.18 a barrel in New York. Crude dropped 2.4 percent yesterday as government figures showed U.S. supplies climbed by the most since 2008.
To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Masaki Kondo in Singapore at mkondo3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net
