Stocks Hold Near Record Highs, Oil Ticks Higher: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks traded near record highs, with Asian shares mirroring Friday’s gains on Wall Street after weak US jobs data curbed bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes. Oil traded around $83 a barrel as a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz remained elusive.

US futures pointed to small gains at the open after the S&P 500 Index closed at an all-time high on Friday. Contracts on the Nasdaq were up 0.3%. European tech stocks outperformed as the regional benchmark index held near last week’s record. MSCI’s Asian gauge traded up 0.6%

Stocks and bonds got a boost as Friday’s soft US jobs print eased concerns about an imminent rate increase from the Fed. JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts lifted their S&P 500 year-end target to 8,000 from 7,800, saying a strong earnings season and faster AI monetization than expected for hyperscalers is boosting profit estimates.

“The jobs data helped ease concerns about a rise in interest rates,” said Kohei Onishi, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley. “That’s prompting investors to rebuild positions in technology stocks.”

Focus now turns to US consumer price data due this week for more clues about policy makers’ next moves.

Elsewhere, oil rose as much as 1.7% with Iran and Oman still short of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while Houthi militants claimed an attack on a Saudi refinery near the Red Sea. Brent crude later pared the advance to trade flat at about $83.60 a barrel.

An agreement with Oman to establish a shipping route through Hormuz was “very close,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said over the weekend. He ruled out direct talks with the US for now because of violations of an interim peace deal reached in June.

Treasuries traded little changed after Friday’s advance, leaving the 10-year yield steady at 4.65%. The dollar edged higher against most of its Group-of-10 peers. Traders trimmed the likelihood of a rate hike at the Fed’s September meeting to a roughly 45% chance, down from 64% a week ago, according to swaps data compiled by Bloomberg.

In other corners of the market, gold was steady at about $4,350 an ounce after its best weekly gain for the metal since January.

Attention in Asia was also on the yen, which traded weaker at around 158.30 per dollar. The yen has underperformed all its Group-of-10 peers this month as the boost from recent intervention fades, putting traders on alert for further official action.

What Bloomberg Strategists Say…

“Oil is firmer on Monday after another weekend of stalled progress on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, yet traders are skeptical prices will rise for an extended period. Net long oil positioning showed only a tepid rebound in July, but that’s already being trimmed across crude contracts.”

— Mark Cranfield, MLIV. For full analysis, click here.

Corporate News:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. spent about $4.5 billion to buy back its own shares in the second quarter and purchased nearly $20 billion of equities in the period, signs that Chief Executive Officer Greg Abel is putting more of the firm’s cash pile to work. Sony Group Corp. and TSMC are in talks to spend a combined ¥1 trillion ($6.4 billion) on their planned joint factory in Japan, according to a person familiar with the plans. SK Hynix Inc. is considering options for its Chongqing, China-based facility, including bringing in an investor to help accelerate growth, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The Stoxx Europe 600 was little changed as of 8:08 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures rose 0.1% Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3% Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.7% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% The euro was little changed at $1.1555 The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 158.44 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 6.7444 per dollar The British pound was little changed at $1.3495 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $65,223.3 Ether rose 0.3% to $1,925.29 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.65% Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.14% Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.93% Commodities

Brent crude fell 0.2% to $83.40 a barrel Spot gold rose 0.3% to $4,355.71 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Matthew Burgess and Momoka Yokoyama.

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