(Bloomberg) — European stocks rose at the open as traders await the monetary policy decisions of three central banks.
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The Stoxx 600 gained 0.3% after the regional benchmark slipped in the previous sessions. US future contracts also strengthened, signaling fresh record-highs for this year’s tech-fueled rally when Wall Street reopens after a public holiday.
The dollar edged higher against a basket of currencies, while 10-year Treasury yields advanced three basis points.
Policymakers in Switzerland are set to kick-start a busy day of European interest rate announcements, with economists roughly split on whether officials will ease policy or remain on hold. Later on, Norges Bank and the Bank of England are expected to keep their respective rates unchanged.
In France, the Treasury is preparing to sell as much as €10.5 billion ($11.3 billion) in bonds for the first time since President Emmanuel Macron shocked markets by calling a snap election. The auction will offer clues as to whether the rout has taken yields to levels high enough to entice buyers.
A two-day rally in Asia paused with a gauge of technology firms in Hong Kong sliding. The Japanese yen extended its weakness against the dollar to a sixth session.
The offshore yuan slipped to its weakest level this year on signs that policymakers are loosening their grip on the currency. The People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s daily reference rate at its lowest since November.
Chinese bonds were in focus after PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng gave the clearest indication yet that the central bank would start trading government bonds on the secondary market. The country’s 10-year government bond futures rose to a record high.
Wall Street, meanwhile, has been lifted by the continued AI frenzy and resilient economic growth that should continue to support corporate earnings, especially in the technology sector.
Questions are rising on what could derail the stock rally given “all is not so rosy under the hood, where index market breadth has been poor, with participation underwhelming, suggesting…
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