(Bloomberg) -- US stock-index futures extended gains and Treasuries rallied as a report showed inflation in the world’s largest economy fell sharper than expected.
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Contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes jumped at least 2.6% each after the October inflation reading signaled the Federal Reserve is winning its war against inflation. Treasuries rallied with the two-year rate tumbling basis points.
Investors may treat the 7.7% headline figure for October as the latest evidence of peaking consumer-price growth, which takes the pressure off the Fed to tighten monetary conditions. Today’s report also showed the consumer-price index coming in softer than expected on a month-on-month basis as well as in its core reading. Risk sentiment got a boost in the minutes after the report with the dollar tumbling.
In the US midterms, Republicans headed for control of the House by smaller margins than forecast while the race for Senate continued. That belied investors’ expectation of a GOP wave and a consequent Congress gridlock seen as positive for risk sentiment. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 tumbled more than 2% on Wednesday.
The disappointment echoed in Asia Thursday. A gauge of Chinese technology stocks in Hong Kong lost more than 3%, with heavyweights Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. sliding ahead of their earnings next week. Mainland Chinese stocks also declined as the nation tightened Covid restrictions on some of its biggest cities, killing of expectations for a relaxation in its pandemic policy.
China’s Covid struggles also weighed on the demand outlook for oil, sending West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipping toward the $85-per-barrel mark.
This week’s brutal selloff in cryptocurrencies eased even though sentiment remained impaired as FTX.com stared at the possibility of a bankruptcy if a $8 billion rescue doesn’t come through. Bitcoin traded around $17,400.
In early New York trading, Pinduoduo Inc. led Chinese shares higher after the nation’s leaders at a Politburo Standing Committee meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping called for more precise and targeted Covid control measures. Depositary shares of AstraZeneca Plc climbed 4.8% as the drugmaker raised guidance after posting better-that-forecast quarterly results.
Key events this week:
US initial jobless claims, Thursday
Fed officials Lorie Logan, Esther George, Loretta Mester speak at events, Thursday
US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
Futures on the S&P 500 rose 2.5% as of 8:33 a.m. New York time
Futures on the Nasdaq 100 rose 3.3%
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2%
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.3%
The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.8%
The euro rose 0.6% to $1.0073
The British pound rose 1.6% to $1.1538
The Japanese yen rose 1.2% to 144.65 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 9.3% to $17,197.29
Ether rose 14% to $1,262.03
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 12 basis points to 3.97%
Germany’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 2.08%
Britain’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 3.36%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1% to $86.68 a barrel
Gold futures rose 1% to $1,730.30 an ounce
--With assistance from Richard Henderson.
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