(Bloomberg) – U.S. stock futures were little changed after underlying indices posted gains in weak trading ahead of a three-day weekend that will see a crucial jobs report. The yen faltered after falling against the dollar for the first time this week on Thursday.
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European markets are mostly closed for the Good Friday holiday, and stock markets in the US will also be closed, although the government is set to release a payroll report that traders will scrutinize for clues about the Federal Reserve’s next policy move. Stock futures trade and close at 9:15 am in New York, 45 minutes after job data lands.
US Treasuries, which traded as usual in Tokyo, were closed during London business hours and will reopen for a shortened session in New York. Trading is expected to resume around 6 a.m. in New York, with the suggested close of trading at 12 p.m.
While much of Asia, including Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, is closed for public holidays, financial markets in Japan and mainland China have been open. Japan’s benchmark Topix edged higher, ending a two-day slump, and stocks in China and South Korea rose.
The S&P 500 just ended its first week of losses in the last four as a slew of economic data fueled concerns that the US economy is headed for a recession. Data on Thursday showed that jobless claims filings topped estimates last week, a day after a private payroll report indicated hiring activity was slowing more than forecast. Trading in S&P 500 shares on Thursday was 20% below the 30-day moving average as traders avoided big bets ahead of jobs data and the long weekend.
The payroll report is expected to show that March hiring slowed to a still strong 230,000 jobs and the unemployment rate is being held near historic lows. As investors have aggressively priced in rate cuts this year, a “too hot” payroll number would undermine those expectations, while a “too cold” report would increase concerns of a hard landing, according to Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader , who founded the newsletter The Sevens Report.
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Read: Bond Action Goes Crazy on Good Friday Payroll, Stocks Less
US stocks rebounded from early losses on Thursday after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he didn’t think tighter credit conditions from the recent banking turmoil would push the economy into recession. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund warned that its outlook for global economic growth over the next five years was the weakest in more than three decades, urging nations to avoid economic fragmentation caused by geopolitical tensions and to take measures to boost productivity seize.
money markets
The mountain of money parked in money market funds hit a new record high last week, although inflows slowed from the recent breakneck pace. About $49.1 billion flowed into U.S. money market funds in the week ended April 5, according to data from the Investment Company Institute, bringing total assets to an unprecedented $5.25 trillion.
Money market funds have been raising cash lately. Initially, much of this flow was fueled by more attractive interest rates, but concerns over the stability of some smaller lenders helped boost this over the past month.
Some of the key movements in the markets:
Shares
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 2:45 p.m. Tokyo time
Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.1%
The Topix gained 0.3% while the Nikkei 225 gained 0.2%.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3% and the CSI 300 rose 0.6%.
Bind
currencies
cryptocurrencies
This story was created with the support of Bloomberg Automation.
–Assisted by Naoto Hosoda and Stephen Kirkland.
(An earlier version corrected that stocks recovered on Thursday in the sixth paragraph.)
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