Stocks Climb After Wall Street Record; Gold Drops: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures pushed higher with European equities in a show of optimism after the S&P 500 hit an all-time high. Gold slipped below $2,000 an ounce.

Target Corp. jumped in pre-market trading on faster-than-expected sales growth. The dollar headed for a sixth daily drop against its major peers while Treasuries rose. Gains in health-care firms including AstraZeneca Plc and Roche Holding AG led the Stoxx Europe 600 Index higher.

Asia stocks were mixed. Sentiment was dampened after President Donald Trump said he called off last weekend’s trade talks. The State Department is also asking colleges and universities to divest from Chinese holdings in their endowments.

Investors searching for fresh catalysts to risk assets are keeping watch on U.S. fiscal stimulus talks and waiting for the Federal Reserve to release minutes of a July committee meeting, which may give clues about inflation targeting.

“We have a Federal Reserve that is all in, keeping rates low probably across the curve for as far as the eye can see,” Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management, said on Bloomberg TV. “That is supportive of higher valuations.”

In a positive signal for equities, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that Democrats might be willing to make more cuts to their stimulus proposal to seal a deal with Republicans and speed Covid-19 relief.

“The lack of fiscal progress has been a big driver of late and has taken the baton from what was initially a more virus-led story,” strategists including Craig Nicol at Deutsche Bank AG wrote in a note.

Elsewhere, crude oil eased in New York after a report signaled surging U.S. gasoline stockpiles, suggesting faltering demand.

Here are some key events coming up:

Nvidia Corp. reports on Wednesday. Results from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Qantas Airways Ltd. are due Thursday.Minutes of the latest FOMC meeting are due Wednesday.The EIA’s crude oil inventory report comes out Wednesday.The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee -- the panel that reviews the OPEC+ agreement -- is due to meet on Wednesday.U.S. jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 15 are due Thursday.China’s loan prime rate is due Thursday.Euro-area PMIs will be released on Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 Index increased 0.1% as of 6:39 a.m. New York time.Nasdaq 100 Index futures climbed 0.1%.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.2%.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.1%.Sterling weakened 0.2% to 0.9028 per euro.The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 105.29 per dollar.New Zealand’s dollar increased 0.7% to $0.6647.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to 0.65%.The yield on two-year Treasuries fell less than one basis point to 0.14%.Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.195%.Germany’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to -0.49%.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.9% to $42.50 a barrel.Gold weakened 0.7% to $1,987.88 an ounce.Silver weakened 0.8% to $27.44 per ounce.LME zinc gained 1.2% to $2,487.50 per metric ton.

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