Home ›› 28 May 2022 ›› Stock
World stocks were heading for their first weekly gain in eight weeks on Friday on a more upbeat earnings view while the dollar hit one-month lows after the Federal Reserve's minutes suggested it could put the brakes on rapid rate hikes later this year.
Optimistic U.S. earnings outlooks overnight from department store operator Macy's Inc and discount chains Dollar General Corp and Dollar Tree boosted stocks.
The Fed's minutes of its May meeting released on Wednesday confirmed two more 50-basis-point hikes each in June and July, but policymakers also suggested the potential for a paU.S.e later in the year.
"It's all flowed through from the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes," said Giles Coghlan, chief currency analyst at HYCM.
"Investors were relieved there wasn't a 75 basis points hint."
Markets would focU.S. on the April core PCE price index for the United States due later on Friday for further signs on whether inflation was running hot, Coghlan added.
The MSCI world equities index rose 0.38 per cent. It was heading for a 3.2 per cent rise on the week and an almost 6 per cent recovery from 18-month lows set two weeks ago.
S&P futures were flat after the Dow Jones IndU.S.trial Average rose 1.61 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 1.99 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.68 per cent on Thursday.
European shares hit a 10-day high and were up 0.18 per cent. Britain's FTSE eased 0.23 per cent, off the previoU.S. day's three-week highs.
Hong Kong shares rose 2.7 per cent after better-than-expected first-quarter revenue growth from Alibaba and Baidu. Asian shares also benefited from hopes of stabilising Sino-U.S. ties and more Chinese government stimul US.
