Stocks Drift Amid Virus Jitters, Stimulus Deadlock: Markets Wrap

Asian stocks and U.S. futures were mixed Friday as investors mulled continued talks over U.S. stimulus and the economic impact of fresh restrictions against the resurgent coronavirus in some parts of the world.

With fresh U.S. stimulus remaining elusive for now, investors are monitoring clampdowns in Europe‘s biggest cities as concern grows that measures aimed at containing the virus’s spread could cause more damage to a fragile global recovery. Data showed an unexpected surge in U.S. jobless claims to the highest since August -- a troubling sign for a labor market whose recovery was already slowing.

“We need to take into account the tremendous rally weve had over the past five months so some consolidation is certainly warranted,” Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust, said on Bloomberg TV. “The new risk emerging on the horizon is the increasing cases of Covid that are sweeping across Europe and increasing across the U.S.”

Friday brings the expiry of options contracts on U.S. equities, indexes and exchange-traded funds, lifting the chances for intraday volatility.

Here are some key events coming up:

• European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde leads off the virtual annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Through Oct. 18.

Anne Richards, chief executive officer at Fidelity International, says markets were priced to perfection, but are realizing the world is not a perfect place, as she discusses the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Bloomberg

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures added 0.3% as of 10:05 a.m. in Tokyo. The index decreased 0.2% on Thursday.

• Japans Topix index dipped 0.2%.

• South Koreas Kospi was little changed.

• Australias S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.3%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat.

• The euro was little changed at $1.1705.

• The yen traded flat at 105.37 per dollar.

• The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7147 per dollar.

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Bonds

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• The yield on 10-year Treasuries remained at 0.73%.

• Australias 10-year yield ticked down to 0.74%, about three basis points lower.

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Commodities

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• West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 0.3% to $40.87 a barrel.

• Gold was at $1,905.81 an ounce, down 0.1%.

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— With assistance by Vildana Hajric, Nancy Moran, Rita Nazareth, Charlie Zhu, and Amanda Wang

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