Global Stocks Waver Ahead of Bank Earnings Reports

Global stocks wavered after conflicting economic data on Friday, though U.S. markets were poised to open slightly higher ahead of first-quarter earnings from two of the nation’s biggest banks.

Shares in Hong Kong, China and Japan were down marginally following a U.S. finish Thursday that left the S&P 500 up 0.01% on the day. Trade data from China showed a strong recovery in exports, which rose 14.2% in March over the same month last year, after a big fall in January and February.

However, Chinese imports were down heavily again, suggesting weak domestic demand, which is a bad sign for Europe’s struggling economies.

European stocks were also down at the open, with the Stoxx Europe 600 losing 0.2%, while yields on 10-year German bunds also fell again, moving further into negative territory.

In the U.S., 10-year Treasury yields dipped to 2.491%, from 2.502% on Thursday. Yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Wall Street futures pointed to opening gains of 0.1% for the S&P 500 and 0.4% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

U.S. producer prices for March on Thursday posted their largest monthly increase since October, but a fresh 49-year low on jobless claims seemed to be more important to markets, said Jim Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank.

Earnings season was set to kick off in the U.S., with reports from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo both due before markets open. Banks have underperformed the wider stock market since a big drop mid-March, so any positive surprise in their numbers was likely to spark a recovery.

S&P 500 bank stocks have recovered a little in the past week or so, but are flat over the past month, lagging a 3.5% rise for the S&P 500 as a whole.

Elsewhere, Turkey’s stocks and currency fell as investors worried about another decline in the country’s foreign reserves and its economic reform plans. The ISE National 100 index dipped another 0.5%% on Friday while the Turkish lira dropped to its lowest level since last October, hitting 5.79 to the dollar.

The Turkish currency is weaker now than it was in the run-up to local elections in March, which sparked worries among international investors about government interference in the economy.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, edged down 0.1%.

In commodities, Brent crude oil gained 0.2% to $70.97 a barrel, while gold gained 0.2%.
Source: Dow Jones