Global Stocks, Treasury Yields Slip
June 25 2019 - 5:35AM
Dow Jones News
By Will Horner -- European and Asian stocks weakened ahead of G-20 summit
-- Gold rallied and government bond yields slipped
-- U.S. stock futures fell following quiet session Monday
European stocks followed Asian indexes lower Tuesday, while
haven assets gained, as investors turned cautious a day after the
recent rally in global markets paused.
The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.1% in morning trade, led by
losses for the index's autos and banking sectors.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.4%, the Hang Seng in Hong
Kong slipped 1.2% and China's benchmark Shanghai composite fell
0.9%.
Assets perceived by investors to be safer stores of wealth
strengthened, with U.S. government bonds and gold both rising.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which falls as the
price rises, dipped to 2.010%, from 2.021% on Monday. Gold prices
climbed 1.1% to $1,435.05 a troy ounce.
U.S. stock futures were also lower following a quiet session
Monday. Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were
both down 0.2%.
"After the deafening roar of markets last week, yesterday saw a
little peace and quiet return," said Jim Reid, a strategist at
Deutsche Bank. "A lull in news flow, broad fatigue and a general
wait-and-see mode ahead of the G-20 all appeared to play a
role."
Stocks broadly rallied last week as investors welcomed signals
from the world's major central banks that they would move to
support the global economy if signs of slowing persisted. In
contrast, investors this week have largely held back from making
big moves as their focus has shifted to the G-20 summit in Japan
due to begin on Friday.
Investors and analysts see a planned meeting between President
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit as a crucial
moment in the trade dispute between the two nations. The skirmish
has roiled markets this year and threatened to further weaken the
global economy, which has already shown signs of flagging after a
long period of expansion.
"Prudence is still justified because obviously the bar is quite
high for a truce between the U.S. and China on tariffs at this
week's G-20," said Kenneth Broux, a senior strategist at Société
Générale. "The danger is of course that everything ends in acrimony
and the whole moves of the past week or so reverse if the U.S.
decides to raise tariffs to 25% on the remaining $300 billion [of
Chinese goods]."
Bitcoin prices jumped 4.4% against the dollar Tuesday, adding to
a rally that has been building for several weeks, and it received
another boost from recently announced plans for a new
cryptocurrency created by Facebook. The bitcoin price recently rose
above $11,000 for the first time in more than a year and was last
at $11,331.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket
of its peers, was broadly flat.
Shares in Capgemini and its smaller rival Altran Technologies
led gains among European stocks after the French companies agreed
to merge. Altran shares soared 21% while Capgemini rose 7.1%.
Elsewhere in commodities, global benchmark Brent crude shed 0.5%
to $63.86 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate
fell 0.3% to $57.76.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 25, 2019 05:20 ET (09:20 GMT)
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