Global stocks at record high as investors rely on Fed’s largesse

TOKYO, Sept. 7 (Reuters) – Global equities edged up on Tuesday to an all-time high for the eighth consecutive session, with investors betting the US Federal Reserve would likely delay the start of its asset purchases cut after the weakness data on employment in the United States.

Japanese stocks have extended their bull run in hopes that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will compile further economic stimulus and easily win the next general election after the country’s unpopular Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that ‘he would resign. Read more

Tokyo’s Nikkei (.N225) rose 1.3%, breaking through the psychological barrier of 30,000 for the first time since April, also helped by a Nikkei reshuffle.

Mainland China (.SSEC) (.CSI300) stocks were little changed at the start of trading while the MSCI ex-Japan Asia-Pacific Index (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was down 0.1%

Global stocks, as measured by the MSCI gauge of 50 markets (.MIWD00000PUS), edged down 0.1% to post their eighth consecutive day of gains to record highs.

The latest rally, which began after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s conciliatory speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium late last month, received a further boost thanks to a surprisingly weak report on salaries for employees. United States Friday.

The US economy created 235,000 jobs in August, the lowest number in seven months as leisure and hospitality hires stagnated, lowering expectations of an anticipated Fed cut. Read more

This was well below economists’ forecast of 728,000.

“It’s the service sector that is losing momentum and clearly showing the impact of the Delta variant. And the Fed has no reason to insist on the reduction this year if the Delta variant has an impact. Everything, its policy measures depend on the recovery in employment, ”said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

US S&P 500 futures were up 0.1% from Friday’s close after Monday’s US holiday. Bond prices eased slightly, pushing yields higher, with 10-year US Treasuries falling 1.339%, up 1.3 basis points.

In the currency market, the euro changed hands at $ 1.1884, a little below Friday’s month-long high of $ 1.1909, while the yen moved little to 109.76 yen for a dollar.

The Australian dollar hit $ 0.7455, not far from its 1.5-month high of $ 0.74775 set on Friday. For now, the focus is on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy meeting later today and whether it will stick to its plan to start scaling back its purchase. of bonds this month.

Oil prices fell after sharp cuts in Asian crude oil contract prices in Saudi Arabia rekindled concerns about the outlook for demand.

US crude futures fell 0.6% to $ 68.90 a barrel.

Reporting by Hideyuki Sano Editing by Shri Navaratnam

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