Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P Live Updates for May. 21, 2021 - Bloomberg

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Asian stocks were steady Friday after a Wall Street rebound as traders weighed the economic recovery from the pandemic as well as the possibility of reduced U.S. stimulus. The dollar held a decline.

Shares rose in Japan but slipped in China and Hong Kong, where Tencent Holdings Ltd. slid after pledging a sharp boost in investment. European and U.S. equity contracts were modestly in the green after the S&P 500 pushed higher and the Nasdaq 100 rallied past its 50-day moving average. A drop in U.S. initial jobless claims put the focus back on the economic recovery, but there are lingering fears price pressures imperil loose financial conditions.

Treasury yields maintained a retreat. Weaker-than-expected demand for an auction of 10-year inflation-protected debt suggested confidence in the Federal Reserve’s view that the recent pick up in inflation is unlikely to be sustained.

A pause in this year’s commodity boom continued, hurting the Australian dollar. Gold is around the highest level in more than four months. Its claimed virtual rival, Bitcoin, steadied after a volatile cryptocurrency slump this week.

The global economic revival, the risk of a significant pickup in inflation and Covid-19 flareups in some parts of the world continue to shape market moves. For now, growth optimism is a bulwark for investors. At the same time, the latest Fed minutes flagged the possibility of a debate at some point on scaling back the exceptional stimulus that’s bolstered a variety of assets.

“Overall we’re still quite risk-on,” Adrian Zuercher, head of global asset allocation at UBS Chief Investment Office, said on Bloomberg Television, adding the vaccine rollout and reopening of the economy “should lead to higher equity markets” and that the “reflation trade is not over yet.”

Brent oil was heading for the biggest weekly decline since March, with the market bracing for the prospect of more Iranian crude flows as the nation inches closer to a revived nuclear deal.

Elsewhere, U.S. President Joe Biden’s tax agenda was in the spotlight.

The Treasury Department detailed the administration’s proposed measures to raise $700 billion in additional revenue over a decade through Internal Revenue Service enforcement, including a requirement for cryptocurrency transfers worth $10,000 or more to be reported to tax authorities. Separately, the U.S. also called for a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15%.

Click here for the MLIV question of the day: How should markets price in an aging China?

Here are some key events this week:

• Data on existing U.S. home sales for April are due on May 21
• Euro-area finance ministers and central bank chiefs hold an informal meeting. A larger group of EU finance ministers and central bank chiefs will meet May 22

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures climbed 0.2% as of 7 a.m. in London. The index rose 1.1%.
• Nasdaq 100 contracts added 0.1%. The gauge rose 1.9%
• Japan’s Topix index increased 0.3%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.1%
• South Korea’s Kospi index shed 0.3%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.1%
• China’s Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.5%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro was at $1.2234
• The British pound was at $1.4186
• The Japanese yen traded at 108.73 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was at 6.4327 per dollar

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 1.63%
• Australia’s 10-year yield dropped four basis points to 1.73%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude added 0.2% to $62.04 a barrel
• Gold fell 0.1% to $1,875.53 an ounce

— With assistance by Laura Cooper, and Eric Lam

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Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P Live Updates for May. 21, 2021 - Bloomberg
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