European and Asian stocks climbed alongside U.S. equity futures on Tuesday as the earnings season gathered pace and governments contemplated reopening their economies. Crude oil extended sharp losses after plunging on Monday.
Banking and insurance shares led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index higher as most national gauges advanced. S&P 500 contracts fluctuated before edging up, after the underlying index closed at its highest since March 10 a day earlier. West Texas oil futures in New York slumped toward $10 a barrel. Treasuries were steady.
On the earnings front, companies including PepsiCo Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Merck & Co. Inc. and Alphabet Inc. are among those due to report on Tuesday. So far:
HSBC Holdings Plc slipped after adjusted profit slumped and the bank cautioned bad loan charges may climb to as much as $11 billion this year, the highest since the last financial crisis.
UBS Group AG gained after posting a jump in profit and expressingd confidence it can withstand a surge in bad loans.
Banco Santander SA fluctuated as it reported the highest provisions by a bank in continental Europe so far this quarter. Net income plunged as a result.
Novartis AG edged up after maintaining its sales and profit forecasts for the year, with demand for its medicines holding up.
Investors have a lot to digest later this week, with policy decisions due from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank as well as earnings from some of the world’s biggest companies, among them Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. At the same time they’re monitoring infection rates across major economies and the ongoing discussions of how to restart activity.
“What’s very important is not to get overly comfortable with the pace of the equity markets in the last few weeks,” George Toubia, chief investment director at Westpac Private Wealth, said at a briefing in Sydney. “Given the market has run up a fair bit in the last few weeks, this is an environment to be far more selective.”
On the virus front, China’s top scientists said the novel coronavirus will not be eradicated, joining a growing consensus that the pathogen will likely return in waves. New cases in Germany fell below 1,000 for the first time in more than five weeks. Italy reported the lowest levels of new infections in seven weeks and prepared to begin reopening. Spain announces its plan to relax the lockdown on Tuesday. The Trump administration issued a strategy to expand U.S. testing, including partnering with retail chains.
Elsewhere, shares in Japan finished slightly higher and those in Australia edged down while South Korean and Hong Kong equities climbed in a choppy Asian session.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.7% as of 9:31 a.m. London time.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.2%.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.4%.
The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.2%.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.2%.
The euro increased 0.2% to $1.0852.
The British pound gained 0.3% to $1.2468.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased less than one basis point to 0.66%.
Germany’s 10-year yield increased two basis points to -0.44%.
Britain’s 10-year yield climbed less than one basis point to 0.305%.
New Zealand’s 10-year yield fell 10 basis points to 0.925%.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude sank 20.5% to $10.16 a barrel.
Brent crude dipped 4.8% to $19.04 a barrel.
Gold weakened 0.8% to $1,701.03 an ounce.
Iron ore decreased 0.8% to $80.65 per metric ton.