S&P 500 Futures Slip as Yen Strengthens; Australian Futures Rise

Bloomberg (07/10) -- Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fell and the yen extended last week’s climb against the dollar, while contracts on Asian equity gauges rose. Crude oil declined for the second time in three days and gold rallied. S&P 500 Index futures slid 0.5 percent by 7:41 a.m. in Tokyo after the measure rose 0.7 percent Oct. 4, snapping a two-day drop. Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures gained 0.6 percent by 3 a.m. in Osaka and rose 0.9 percent in Chicago Oct. 4, while contracts on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.6 percent today. Japan’s currency strengthened 0.3 percent, continuing last week’s 0.8 percent advance. West Texas Intermediate oil fell 0.4 percent and gold added 0.3 percent. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said lawmakers won’t raise the debt ceiling without packaging it with other provisions. While the Federal Reserve releases minutes of last month’s meeting this week, data from payrolls to retail sales will be delayed as long as the government shutdown continues. In Asia, the Bank of Japan publishes its October report today and Taiwan releases inflation and trade figures. Trading in mainland China resumes tomorrow after holidays. “Markets continue to assume an 11th hour solution to the current U.S. fiscal impasse will be found, as no one wants to wear the blame for a debt default,” Sharon Zollner, a senior economist at ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd. in Wellington, wrote in a note to clients today. “This is for now an entertaining sideshow on a global markets scale. But as the days tick by and the U.S. government’s cash gradually starts to run out the stakes will rise considerably.” Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent in their most recent trading session, as contracts on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 0.6 percent. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese stocks in New York jumped 1.1 percent Oct. 4, capping a weekly advance of 2.6 percent, led by Internet stocks. Renren Inc. surged 20 percent last week. The Hang Seng gauge fell 0.3 percent last week and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.2 percent, its first weekly drop since August. Mainland Chinese markets have been closed since Oct. 1 for the National Day holidays. The nation’s maritime authority raised the highest possible alerts for storm tides and waves yesterday as Typhoon Fitow approached the eastern provinces, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center.