Asian Stocks, European Share Futures Echo US Drop: Markets Wrap

Treasuries were slightly higher Friday. The Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar rose on news of the potential tariff reprieve.

On Thursday, Trump delayed levies on goods covered by the North American trade deal from the two countries until April 2. Later comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent all but confirmed tariffs will be coming. Bessent rejected the idea that tariff hikes will ignite a new wave of inflation, and suggested that the Federal Reserve ought to view them as having a one-time impact.

European stocks have advanced almost 10% this year, as rate cuts and Germany’s plan to raise defense spending boost the market. Meanwhile, a gauge of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong has surged almost 23% so far this year on optimism over the nation’s artificial-intelligence adoption drive and expected stimulus from Beijing.

While the creation of the Bitcoin-specific reserve fulfills a promise Trump made on the campaign trail, the details fell short of industry expectations. Bitcoin dropped as much as 5.7% before paring some of the losses.

In Asia, China’s exports reached a record so far this year as higher US tariffs, and the threat of more to come, drove front-loading of shipments.

Nonfarm Payroll

Investors will be focused on US nonfarm payrolls data on Friday, which may help traders identify the path ahead for interest rates. The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will provide an update about momentum in the labor market that’s been the key support — at least until January — of household spending and the economy.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is slated to speak at a monetary policy forum Friday afternoon. Policymakers next meet March 18-19 and they’re expected to hold interest rates steady as they gauge the labor market and inflation trends as well as recent government policy shifts.

Meanwhile, Fed Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he wouldn’t support lowering interest rates in March, but sees room to cut two, or possibly three, times this year.

“If the labor market, everything, seems to be holding, then you can just kind of keep an eye on inflation,” Waller said Thursday at the Wall Street Journal CFO Network Summit. “If you think it’s moving back toward target, you can start lowering rates. I wouldn’t say at the next meeting, but could certainly see going forward.”

In commodities, oil was on track for the biggest weekly decline since October, while gold was set for a gain as traders sought havens.

Key events this week:

• Eurozone GDP, Friday

• US jobs report, Friday

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell gives keynote speech at an event in New York hosted by University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Friday

• Fed’s John Williams, Michelle Bowman and Adriana Kugler speak, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% as of 6:24 a.m. London time

• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3%

• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.9%, more than any closing loss since Feb. 28

• Japan’s Topix fell 1.6%, more than any closing loss since Feb. 28

• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2%

• The Shanghai Composite fell 0.2%, more than any closing loss since Feb. 28

• Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.9%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

• The euro rose 0.3% to the highest since Nov. 5

• The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to the highest since Oct. 3

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2459 per dollar

• The British pound was little changed at $1.2890

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 2% to $88,031.01

• Ether fell 2.1% to $2,166.62

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 4.25%

• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.83%

• Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.66%

Commodities

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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