Asian stocks were set for gains on Friday although trade was likely to be choppy after a mixed Wall Street session with investor focus swinging between concerns about a second pandemic wave and more upbeat hopes about an economic recovery.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were range-bound and oscillated through much of the day as investors struggled to interpret the impact of U.S. employment data without any guidance from corporations on their earnings. "The uncertainty that has acted to pause any further price gains in U.S. stocks is centered on concerns over a second wave of COVID-19, continued concerns over the state of the U.S. economy in a post pandemic landscape and increasingly strident concern over the upcoming 2020 elections – as framed by recent civil unrest," said Peter Kenny, founder of New York-based Kenny's Commentary LLC and Strategic Board Solutions LLC.