Stocks Rally With U.S. Futures After Bruising Week

Stocks rebounded Friday and U.S. equity futures rose after Wall Street halted a three-day slide on signs of a strengthening economic recovery that helped soothe some of the concerns about risks from inflation. MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific share gauge advanced about 1%, led by Japan, bringing some relief after a bruising week in which worries about price pressures sapped equities. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts climbed after the indexes gained overnight, with industrial and financial shares outperforming, while energy producers joined a slump in oil.

Treasuries rallied from the prior session’s weakness, with the 10-year yield easing to 1.66% despite a lackluster auction of 30-year bonds. The Federal Reserve tweaked its purchasing plan to focus more on longer-dated Treasuries, while leaving the $80 billion monthly total unchanged.

Tesla Inc. fell after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the electric-car maker is suspending purchases using Bitcoin over environmental concerns. Bitcoin pared some of the losses sparked by the move to trade around $50,000. Markets appear to have recovered from a bout of volatility following an unexpectedly sharp increase in the U.S. consumer price index. The latest data reinforced inflation pressures, with producer prices outpacing forecasts, but a drop in jobless claims helped sentiment. Still, global stocks are headed for their biggest weekly drop since February.

Stocks

S&P 500 contracts climbed 0.5% as of 12:46 p.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.7%. The index advanced 0.8%Japan’s Topix Index rose 1.8%Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 1%South Korea’s Kospi gained 1%China’s Shanghai Composite Index added 1.2%Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1%

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose less than 0.1%The euro was at $1.2084The British pound traded at $1.4047The Japanese yen was down 0.1% at 109.58 per dollar

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was steady at 1.66%Australia’s 10-year yield slipped two basis points to 1.79%

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.3% to $63.61 a barrelGold futures dipped 0.2% to $1,822.33 an ounce

Stocks Rally With U.S. Futures After Bruising Week: Markets Wrap, Bloomberg, May 14