Stocks Wobble As Traders Eye US Payrolls Data Yen At 2-month High

HK stocks set for greatest weekly performance in 4 months


Yen at 2 month high up on rising bets on rate hikes this year


Gold constant near record peak, oil set for third weekly drop


By Ankur Banerjee


SINGAPORE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Global stocks meandered on Friday ahead of crucial U.S. payrolls information as investors thought about potential customers that a wider trade war might be averted, while the yen hit its greatest in almost 2 months on rising chances of more rate hikes in Japan this year.


In a week that began with U.S. President Donald Trump starting a trade war, investors have actually been reluctant in making major moves as threatened tasks on China were executed.


Beijing's measured tit-for-tat response has actually left room for settlements, experts state, and that has enabled traders to concentrate on the AI style in China in the wake of home-grown start-up DeepSeek's breakthrough.


European futures indicated a controlled open after the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed at a record high on Thursday on the back of robust company profits.


European stocks have actually staged their best efficiency in a decade against Wall Street in the very first six weeks of 2025, however focus is now on whether those gains can be sustained.


Eurostoxx 50 futures were down 0.41%, while FTSE futures fell 0.39%. DAX futures eased 0.21%.


Futures for Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down about 0.2% as shares of Amazon slipped in extended trading over night on weak point in the retailer's cloud computing unit and annunciogratis.net soft forecast.


In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index struck a three-month high, poised for a 4% rise in the week, its greatest weekly efficiency sustained by DeepSeek-led AI bets.


China's blue-chip stock index was 0.4% greater after touching a one-month high leaving MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan at its highest given that mid-December.


"Whilst there is significant sound and uncertainty, we don ´ t see escalating trade stress as a video game changer in the potential customers for the Chinese market," said James Cook, investment director for emerging markets at Federated Hermes.


"China's bigger problem is not Trump but the domestic economy."


On the front, jobless claims, layoffs and labour costs/productivity supplied a prologue to Friday's keenly awaited January employment report, setiathome.berkeley.edu with the information likely to show the impact of wild fires in California and winter throughout much of the country.


Nonfarm payrolls are expected to have actually increased by 170,000 tasks last month after rising 256,000 in December, a Reuters survey of financial experts showed.


"Markets might face some volatility around the data if it beats expectations, however it will not alter the course of the FOMC policy as more information will be required," said Anderson Alves, a trader with ActivTrades.


Markets are pricing in 43 basis points of alleviating this year from the Fed with a rate cut in July totally priced in as policymakers remain in no rush to begin the rate-cutting cycle again.


While political uncertainties kept investors careful, worries have reduced that Trump's method to tariffs could intensify into an international trade war.


RISING YEN


The Japanese yen has been on a tear today buoyed by safe-haven circulations in addition to rising expectations of the Bank of Japan increasing rate of interest this year, gratisafhalen.be with market value in 34 basis points of hikes for the year.


The yen touched 150.96 per dollar in early trading, its strongest level considering that December 10 however was last a tad weaker at 151.71. The currency is headed for an over 2% rise against the dollar today, its greatest weekly performance considering that late November.


Sterling was 0.1% lower at $1.24255 after dropping 0.5% on Thursday as the BoE cut interest rates by 25 basis points but alerted it would be mindful moving forward, in the face of a possible inflation uptick and geopolitical concerns.


Oil prices increased partially on Friday but were on track for a third straight week of decline.


Gold costs steadied on Friday near record-high levels and were headed for their sixth successive weekly gain driven by safe-haven flows.


(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee; additional reporting by Stephen Culp, Marc Jones and Alun John; editing by Shri Navaratnam and Sam Holmes)