U.S. Futures Retrace Slice of Losses; Yen Drops: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures retraced a slice of Tuesday’s sharp decline, and the yen dipped as investors took in early Super Tuesday election results in the U.S. alongside the Federal Reserve’s emergency interest-rate cut.Early wins by Joe Biden lessened the chance of the Bernie Sanders nomination that had unsettled some investors. Futures on the S&P 500 were up about 0.8% after the index had tumbled almost 3% in wake of an emergency 50 basis-point Fed move that failed to ease concerns about an economic downturn. Asian stocks were mixed, with Japan and Hong Kong flat, Korea up, and China and Australia down. Ten-year Treasury yields stayed below 1% after falling below that level for the first time Tuesday.Biden, positioned as a moderate against a more progressive Sanders, nabbed early wins in Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama as the Super Tuesday results rolled in. But states with polls closing later, such as Texas and California, could still aid Sanders.“Biden would be a less severe change for markets that already have enough to worry about, with all these external shocks,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust, in Santa Ana, California. “Sanders would bring a lot changes that markets wouldn’t necessarily like.”Equities earlier had tumbled after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned that the virus outbreak will weigh on activity “for some time.” Expectations the Fed may act again as soon as this month show markets remain extremely cautious about the economy’s prospects to weather the hit.Elsewhere, oil steadied after climbing in the wake of OPEC+ committee recommendation for a larger supply cut to offset lost demand from the spread of the virus.These are the main moves in markets:StocksFutures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.8% as of 10:28 a.m. in Tokyo. The underlying gauge dropped 2.8% on Tuesday.Japan’s Topix index was little changed.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1%.The Shanghai Composite slid 0.4%.South Korea’s Kospi index rose 1.7%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.2%.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries slid about two basis points to 0.98%.Australia’s 10-year yield dropped about six basis points to 0.74%.CurrenciesThe yen fell 0.2% to 107.37 per dollar after surging on Tuesday.The offshore yuan rose 0.1% 6.9429 per dollar.The euro bought $1.1165.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude was at $47.76 a barrel, up 1.2%.Gold was little changed at $1,642 an ounce.\--With assistance from Joanna Ossinger.To contact the reporters on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net;Elena Popina in New York at epopina@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Cormac MullenFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

from Yahoo Finance https://ift.tt/2Tipwn5