Equities have performed their best since March this week
investmentnews.comA rally in global stocks paused on Friday, though still on track for the best week since March, as earnings season in Europe and the US started to swing into gear.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was little changed at the open. Luxury-goods maker Burberry Group Plc slipped after reporting slowing sales growth in the Americas and a smaller-than-expected rebound in China. Swiss money manager Partners Group Holding AG gained more than 3% after assets under management rose in the first half.
US equity futures fluctuated after tech megacaps bolstered the S&P 500 to above 4,500 on Thursday. The reporting season also kicks off in the US today with lenders JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo and Citigroup Inc. A gauge of the dollar was steady, on track for its worst week since November. Treasury yields ticked higher.
A gauge of global equities has rallied more than 3% since Monday as “disinflation” and “soft landing” became the buzzwords across trading desks, with investors unwinding bets on Federal Reserve tightening after soft US inflation data.
“The market has been partying like it’s 1999 this week,” said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank AG. “It’s hard to stand in the way of that narrative at the moment regardless of what eventually happens.”
Most stock indexes advanced in Asia. Stocks fluctuated in Japan as the yen headed for a seven-day winning streak, which would mark its best performance since 2018.
The offshore yuan ticked higher. China has ample foreign exchange reserves and will “resolutely” prevent wild swings in the yuan exchange rate, People’s Bank of China Deputy Governor Liu Guoqiang said at a briefing Friday. The currency’s short-term movement cannot be predicted accurately, but it hasn’t deviated from its
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