· Stocks rallied on Friday as a rebound in bond yields eased fears of a recession that sent stocks tumbling earlier in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 306.62 points, or 1.2%, to 25,886.01, while the S&P 500 gained 1.4%, or 41.08 points, to 2,888.68 and the Nasdaq Composite was about 1.7% higher at 7,895.99. Apple and Nvidia led the gains. The Dow, however, still lost 1.5% on the week.
Still, major stock averages posted their third straight weekly losses with the S&P 500 down 1%. August has been a volatile and brutal month for the stock market as the Dow has lost 3.6% so far.
· European markets closed sharply higher Friday, as investors tentatively returned to riskier assets after a turbulent week.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed provisionally up almost 1.3%, with all sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
A technical glitch prevented Britain’s FTSE 100 from opening for almost two hours on Friday morning. It was the index’s longest outage in eight years. The bourse closed about 0.7% higher.
The U.K.’s blue-chip index had hit a six-month low in the previous session, as an escalating trade war between the United States and China and growing concerns about the world economy saw global stocks in sell-off mode.
· Stocks in Asia edged up Monday morning as U.S. Treasury yields bounced higher after plunging last week which sent markets into a panic.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.87% in early trade as shares of convenience store operator FamilyMart surged 5.34%, whie the Topix added 0.62%.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.36%, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.86%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 0.24%.
Market reaction toward a recent unveiling of interest rate reform in China will be watched, when mainland Chinese shares begin trading at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.
On Saturday, the People’s Bank of China said it will improve the mechanism used to establish the loan prime rate from this month, allowing it to “use market-based reform methods to help lower real lending rates. ” That comes as Beijing attempts to prop up a slowing economy that has been hit by its ongoing trade war with Washington.
In Hong Kong, shares of airline Cathay Pacific will also be watched, following the resignation of its CEO last Friday “in view of recent events. ” The firm has come under immense political pressure from Beijing following the discovery that two of its pilots were involved in ongoing protests in Hong Kong that have rocked the city for weeks.
Reference: CNBC
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