Global equities are pulling back from all-time highs just as the strong recent run up showed signs of broadening into other sectors. Investors are monitoring progress on a vaccine for the pandemic and continued signals of support from central banks and government to support the economy. While data Thursday showed applications for jobless claims fell last week, U.S. investors may need evidence of a fuller economic recovery after a 60% run-up in the S&P 500 since its March lows.
“Given the market’s seemingly relentless climb higher on the back of the mega-cap tech names, it should be no surprise that a pullback was in the offing as the market became increasingly extended and overbought,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial Inc. This could be “an overbought market that is burning off froth, following end-of-the-month portfolio adjustments as managers needed to catch up.”
Elsewhere, oil declined. The Cboe Volatility Index -- a measure of expected price swings for the S&P 500 Index known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge” -- rose to the highest level since June.
Here are some key events coming up:
- U.S. jobs report Friday is forecast to show payrolls continued to rebound in August from virus lows.
Here are the main market moves:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures slipped 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 contracts were 1.7% lower as of 10:25 a.m. in Tokyo. The index sank 3.5% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 5% on Thursday.
- Japan’s Topix index declined 1%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4%.
- Shanghai Composite dropped 1.4%.
- South Korea’s Kospi index retreated 1.3%.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 2.5%.
- Euro Stoxx 50 futures added 0.1%.
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
- The euro bought $1.1851.
- The yen was at 106.16 per dollar.
- The offshore yuan traded at 6.8418 per dollar.
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries ticked up to 0.64%.
- Australia’s 10-year yield dropped two basis points to 0.89%.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.6% to $41.12 a barrel.
- Gold was at $1,936.72 an ounce, up 0.3%.
