London — World stocks clung to their 17-month highs on Friday and bonds paused after this week’s rally ahead of US jobs data, a gauge that could stoke or temper market expectations about aggressive policy easing by the US Federal Reserve.
The losses came after German data showed industrial orders had fallen far more than expected in May, and a warning from the economy ministry that this sector of Europe’s largest economy was likely to remain weak in the coming months.Tech shares retreated 0.9% after Samsung’s dour forecast showed the impact of US-China trade war on global chip and smartphone markets, sending Infineon, STMicroelectronics and Siltronic as much as 1.5% lower.
Fed futures are fully pricing in a 25-basis-point cut when the Fed meets on July 30-31. Investors also see a 25% chance of a 50-basis-point reduction. The easing bund yields dragged the euro 0.1% lower to $1.1273 with the common currency on track for the biggest weekly drop in three weeks. The dollar index was steady at 96.823, though, on track for a 0.8% gain this week. Against the yen, the dollar gained 0.2% to ¥108.04.