Global Stocks Extend Rally

By David Hodari 

Global stocks ticked up Tuesday, extending their rallies after a sharp selloff late last week.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.1% in early trading, with energy sector stocks among those staging shallow gains. Oil prices have recently recovered from early-year weakness, with Brent crude oil futures, the global benchmark, last up 0.6% at $67.18 a barrel.

Still, investors and strategists have recently signaled doubts over the prospects for global growth, amid a slew of downbeat economic data.

Germany's DAX index underperformed other European benchmarks, falling 0.2% after a German consumer confidence survey undershot forecasts. That chimed with similarly downbeat eurozone purchasing managers index figures at the end of last week.

The yield on 10-year German government bonds slipped back to its late Monday level of -0.022%. Yields fall as prices rise.

French GDP figures on Tuesday matched market expectations. Growth figures from the U.S. are due Thursday, and from the U.K., Spain and Canada on Friday.

U.K. assets remained broadly unchanged despite lawmakers' decision late Monday to wrest control of the Brexit process away from Prime Minister Theresa May, in a move that will prompt a series of indicative votes this week aimed at easing legislative gridlock. The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% and the pound was nearly flat against the dollar at $1.3189.

Gentle gains for European stocks followed more mixed trading in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 2.2% partly thanks to buoyant pharmaceuticals and transportation stocks, after facing heavy pressure Monday. Shares in Nintendo jumped 4.8% after the company announced plans to launch two new versions of its Switch console.

Gains on South Korea's Kospi benchmark, up 0.2%, were more subdued, with index heavyweight Samsung Electronics down 0.6% after warning of a hit to earnings from weak chip prices.

Mainland China stocks edged lower ahead of the resumption of cabinet-level trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.5% and the Shenzhen A-Share dropped 2.2%, though those benchmarks tend to be more volatile than many of their Asian counterparts. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2%.

Investors were hopeful that monthslong negotiations would finally yield results. "We assign a 60% chance to a successful outcome to talks, which would involve a partial rollback of tariffs," said UBS Chief Investment Office strategists in a note.

Traders were also eyeing speeches from China's finance minister and its central bank governor, both expected this week, and U.S. house building figures due later in the day.

U.S. futures put the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average on course to climb 0.2% at the open, after both indexes eked out gains on Monday. The S&P remained 1% below its level a week earlier.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasurys was last 2.433%, up from 2.418% late Monday and on course to snap a four-day negative streak.

U.S. technology sector stocks will be in focus on Tuesday, with Uber completing the $3.1 billion dollar purchase of Middle Eastern rival Careem Networks, and Apple on Monday announcing a raft of products aimed at boosting its services revenues.

Write to David Hodari at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2019 05:18 ET (09:18 GMT)

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