Futures Up, Stocks Steady With Inflation in Focus: Markets Wrap

U.S. futures rose and stocks were steady Thursday as investors assessed the prospects of higher inflation spurring tighter monetary policy.

Contracts on U.S. gauges rose, led by those on the Nasdaq 100 after the gauge’s worst slump in more than a month. Tesla Inc. rose in premarket trading after filings showed Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk unloaded $5 billion of stock. Walt Disney Co. and Beyond Meat Inc. slid after disappointing quarterly figures.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was steady, while in Asia, Chinese equities rallied on speculation of government measures to ease the cash crunch at struggling property developers.

The U.S. cash Treasury market is closed Thursday for a holiday. Trading conditions in Treasuries are the roughest since March 2020, based on Bloomberg’s liquidity gauge for the debt.

Investors are bracing for tighter monetary policy sooner rather than later, after Wednesday’s stronger-than-forecast data on U.S. consumer prices dealt a blow to the argument that inflation is transitory.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank could stop buying bonds as early as next September if inflation looks to have sustainably returned to the official target, Governing Council member Robert Holzmann said.

“This is the perfect time to gravitate toward defensive plays, to take profit and to be in the sectors that are strategically positioned toward this volatile market that presents a lot of challenges,” Katerina Simonetti, senior vice president at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management, said on Bloomberg Television.

Elsewhere, the U.K.’s exporter-heavy FTSE 100 Index rose as the pound held near an 11-month low after better-than-expected economic growth data.

Oil fluctuated as investors weighed the odds that the White House will intervene to cool prices. Gold approached a five-month high and Bitcoin hovered near $65,000.

Didi Global Inc. climbed in early New York trading after a report the ride-hailing firm is preparing to reintroduce its apps in China by the end of the year as regulators wrap up their investigations.

What to watch this week:

• China’s Communist Party’s decision-making Central Committee meets through Thursday
• U.S. bond marked is closed in observance of Veterans Day Thursday
• China holds its annual Singles’ Day, the world’s biggest shopping festival, when e-commerce giants like Alibaba and JD.com Inc. lure buyers with bargains Thursday

For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.

Stocks

• Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 8:23 a.m. New York time
• Futures on the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.2%
• The MSCI World index was little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1465
• The British pound was little changed at $1.3410
• The Japanese yen was little changed at 113.92 per dollar

Bonds

• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.24%
• Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.93%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $80.71 a barrel
• Gold futures rose 0.7% to $1,861.40 an ounce

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