Asian stocks headed for the longest winning streak this year and the South Korean won gained on speculation Chinese and European central bankers will ease monetary policy. Europe’s stock futures fell and the euro weakened ahead of a Spanish bond sale.
The MSCI Asia Pacific (MXAP) Index climbed for the sixth day, gaining, 0.5 percent at 7:21 a.m. in London, while the won advanced to a two-month high. Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index declined 0.2 percent, while those for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed with U.S. financial markets closed today for the Fourth of July holiday. The euro declined 0.2 percent to 100.45 yen. Rubber rose to a one-month high in Tokyo.
The European Central Bank will cut interest rates tomorrow, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists, and a government- linked newspaper in China said policy makers may lower lenders’ reserve requirements three more times this year. The International Monetary Fund said further monetary policy easing by the Federal Reserve may be needed as the organization reduced its growth estimate for the world’s biggest economy.
“There is some room for the rally to last for the next couple of weeks,” Kelvin Tay, a Singapore-based chief investment officer at the wealth management unit of UBS AG, said on Bloomberg TV. “The hands of the central banks are not so tied and they can look at perhaps easing monetary policy as they try to help stimulate economies.”
Euro Stoxx 50 Index futures fell after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed to the highest level in two months. The regional benchmark has completed its longest stretch of weekly gains since January as the region’s leaders agreed to address flaws in their bailout programs to ease the sovereign-debt crisis.
“There will be thin trading today as U.S stocks are closed for Independence Day with no major economic releases due out,” said Nam Truong, a trader at Capital Spreads in London.
The euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.2593 before data forecast to confirm European services and manufacturing industries shrank. The 17-nation currency also slipped ahead of a Spanish bond sale tomorrow.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Chua Baizhen in Beijing at bchua14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sandy Hendry at shendry@bloomberg.net
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