Tuesday, June 27, 2023

"U.S. Stock Futures Rise After China Pledges Stimulus"

From Barron's, June 27:

U.S. stock futures rose on Tuesday, with investor sentiment buoyed globally amid expectations of fresh stimulus in China.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 20 points, or 0.1%, after the index shed 12 points on Monday to close at 33,714. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.2%, with contracts tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq up 0.5%.

If the Dow can eke out a gain on Tuesday it will snap a six-day losing streak, its longest since last September. Investors are, so far, absorbing new Chinese stimulus expectations and looking ahead to key U.S. inflation data due at the end of the week.

China’s Premier Li Qiang said the world’s second-largest economy was still on course to reach its 5% growth target for 2023, and that Beijing would introduce growth policies to boost demand. The Chinese central bank on Tuesday also set a stronger-than-expected fix for the yuan in an attempt to slow declines in the currency that have taken hold since May.

“Hopes that efforts to fire demand in China will help the country reach its growth targets have put more of a spring in the step of equities,” said Susannah Streeter, an analyst at broker Hargreaves Lansdown. “The promise of a better performance in the second quarter, with 5% considered achievable for the year, has helped solidify sentiment but investors will be watching closely for evidence of concrete action.”...

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