WASHINGTON, June 2 — Global equities set both an intraday high and record close yesterday as investors weighed the latest US economic data for signs of a rebound and rising inflation, while Wall Street’s main indexes wavered before ending little changed.
Emerging market stocks rose 1.06 per cent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.87 per cent higher, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.16 per cent. Investors cheered signs of an improving economy ahead of a week packed with major data they hope to cast light on the economic recovery, analysts said.
“They are interpreting higher yields as a signal to sell technology holdings and buy cyclical companies in the Energy, Materials and Financials sector,” Zaccarelli said.Oil gains “Memorial Day just brought the Transportation Security Administration’s busiest day since the start of the pandemic, and data from GasBuddy suggested that we saw the highest Sunday demand for gasoline in the US since the summer of 2019,” added Ausenbaugh of JP Morgan Private Bank.
Though US inflation data last week exceeded estimates, another big miss on the jobs front would delay prospects for any wind-down of stimulus, analysts say.