(Reuters) – In early trading on Friday global markets held steady or slipped slightly as investors looked over mixed data and looked for the next catalyst.
The Australian S&P / ASX 200 Index last fell 0.15% and futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.1%.
Markets in Greater China and most of Southeast Asia are closed Friday for the Lunar New Year holidays. Chinese stock and bond markets, foreign exchange and futures markets are closed through Feb. 17 for the holidays.
Trade in the United States and Europe on Thursday did not move prices enough to provide much direction, said Tom Piotrowski, market analyst at CommSec in Sydney.
“We didn’t get a lot of lead in from the northern hemisphere,” Piotrowski said. “Markets are in a bit of a pattern waiting for the next catalyst and it is only a question of whether that catalyst is going to be positive or negative. ”
Global stock markets held near record highs on Thursday as investors measured some tight economic data against rising vaccines against COVID-19 and expect more government spending and continued cheap money from central banks are driving higher growth and, ultimately, inflation.
The MSCI global equity index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, rose 0.25% on Thursday, adding a ninth straight day of gains.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 gained gains of 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, while the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.02%.
Prices were near records as investors promised more government spending, although the mood was tightened when US President Joe Biden argued for more infrastructure spending by saying to the extent that China was about to “eat our lunch.”
The U.S. government said weekly unemployment claims fell slightly last week, but not as much as economists had expected by Reuters.
Such job market pools have bolstered Biden for more consumption. Biden, in a meeting Thursday with members of Congress, said he would call for heavy investments in U.S. infrastructure.
He said the United States must pick up its game against Chinese competition. “If we don’t move, they’ll eat our lunch,” he said.
Studies show that about half of U.S. roads are in poor or moderate condition and a third of bridges need to be repaired or refurbished.
The infrastructure effort, the analyst said, could cost trillions of extra dollars on the $ 1.9 trillion emergency stimulus bill that Biden is asking Congress to pass. nL1N2KG2IN]
The last 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was at 1.1648, 3 basis points higher than the previous day and the biggest one-day change this week.
The weakest bid for Finance came on soft demand for $ 27 billion of new 30-year bonds on Thursday. Earlier in the week, there was strong demand for new sales of 10-year and three-year notes.
Bond investors have been joking about growing supply of Finance with planned changes for faster economic growth and inflation.
The dollar index moved 0.02% lower Friday morning after dipping for Thursday ‘s fourth day on U.S. jobless claims data. [FRX/]
U.S. crude remained unchanged early Friday at $ 57.92 a barrel. Oil ended its peak of gains on Thursday after both OPEC and the International Energy Agency said renewed locks and the emergence of new coronavirus modifications reduced the expectation of rapid demand. [O/R]
Cryptocurrency bitcoin [BTC=BTSP} was up/down 6.9% on the day at $47,937.82 at 2310 GMT after setting a record high of $48,481.45 on Thursday. The move came after BNY Mellon said it will form a new unit to help clients hold, transfer and issue digital assets.
Spot gold was last up 0.05% to $1,826.30 per ounce. U.S. gold futures settled down 0.9% on Thursday. [GOL/]
Reporting by David Henry in New York; Edited by Stephen Coates