Big tech pushes stocks higher as dollar drops: Markets wrap

Big tech stocks rallied in early trading, while the dollar weakened on speculation that the Trump administration is making currency policy a part of trade talks.

S&P 500 futures added 0.3%, with Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. getting a boost in the pre-market session. Investors are continuing to snap up tech shares, with sentiment helped by signs that the US is paving the way for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to win wider access to advanced AI chips.

Meanwhile, foreign exchange traders were focused on the possibility the US wants the dollar to decline. In a meeting earlier this month, American and South Korean officials discussed currency policies, according to a person familiar with the matter. Traders took that as a sign that foreign governments may accept strength in their exchange rates to smooth the way to trade deals with the US.

The dollar slipped 0.3%. The South Korean won jumped more than 1% and neighboring currencies, including the Japanese yen, also strengthened.

Meanwhile, Treasuries steadied. Gold dropped and Bitcoin hovered around $104,000. Asian stocks rallied, with the MSCI benchmark trading up 1.4%.

In US equities, investors were focusing on the possibility that the rebound has run its course. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategist Peter Oppenheimer warned that stocks remain vulnerable if deteriorating economic data reignites recession worries.

“Investors got very bearish in April, missed the market rebound and then were forced to chase it,” said Lilian Chovin, head of asset allocation at Coutts & Co. He’s trimming back his overweight stance in equities.

In Europe, the standout stock was Burberry Group Plc, which surged 15% after the company announced plans to cut almost a fifth of its workforce.

The rally in European shares is set to broaden, according to Helen Jewell, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of fundamental equities EMEA. She cited the strength of the recent earnings season and Germany’s economic stimulus, and said the firm is bullish on banks.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% as of 7:59 a.m. New York time
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
• The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed
• The MSCI World Index rose 0.1%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
• The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1216
• The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3331
• The Japanese yen rose 0.9% to 146.20 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $103,947.07
• Ether fell 2.4% to $2,624.34

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.47%
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 2.67%
• Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.67%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1% to $62.99 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.9% to $3 221.02 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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