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Earnings from Amazon ( AMZN ), Apple ( AAPL ) lift Nasdaq futures by 1.1%
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Nikkei heads for 16% monthly gain, best since 1990
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Chinese shares lose ground after trade truce, dismal PMI
data
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Dollar near 3-month highs, oil down for three months
(Updates prices before European open)
By Stella Qiu
SYDNEY, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Asian shares looked set for a
seventh straight month of gains on Friday after upbeat earnings
from Amazon ( AMZN ) and Apple ( AAPL ) buoyed Wall Street futures, while the
dollar hovered near three-month highs on uncertainty over
further Federal Reserve rate cuts.
European stock futures were, however, bracing for a lower
open, with EURO STOXX 50 futures down 0.2% and FTSE
futures 0.3% lower.
Nasdaq futures jumped 1.1% and S&P 500 futures
gained 0.6% as Amazon's ( AMZN ) stellar earnings sent its
shares up a staggering 13% after the bell, which added over $300
billion to its market value. Apple ( AAPL ) rose 2.3% after its
outlook on iPhone sales topped estimates.
That offset the drag from Meta and Microsoft ( MSFT )
overnight amid worries over their surging AI spending.
Six of the "Magnificent Seven" U.S. tech megacaps have now
reported and the results have been mixed. Nvidia, the world's
first $5 trillion company, is due to report in three weeks.
"Profit growth in tech companies remains incredibly strong
but will moderate, so tech stocks are likely to have a bit of a
pullback especially on high valuations," said Diana Mousina,
deputy chief economist at AMP.
"Despite some wobbles recently, Mag 7 U.S. tech stocks have
still outperformed the S&P 500 since the beginning of the year."
Japan's Nikkei rallied 1.9% on Friday, boosting
its weekly and monthly gains to 6% and 16.4%, respectively. That
was the largest monthly rise since 1990, turbocharged by hopes
for aggressive fiscal stimulus under new Prime Minister Sanae
Takaichi.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside
Japan slipped 0.4% on Friday, weighed by losses
in Chinese stocks. Still, the index was poised for a weekly gain
of 1% and a monthly rise of 4%.
Chinese blue chips skidded 1.2% and Hong
Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.9% after data showed
China's factory activity contracted at the fastest pace in six
months in October.
Investors also locked in gains after a
trade truce
reached by U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese
President Xi Jinping on Thursday, which led to reduced U.S.
tariffs on imports of Chinese goods, resumed U.S. soybean
purchases by Beijing and continued rare earth exports from
China.
This week, major central bank meetings have delivered
decisions that were largely in line with expectations, with the
biggest surprise coming from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
who pushed back against the market's sanguine view about a rate
cut in December.
Treasuries were steady on Friday, but were set for
weekly losses. Two-year Treasury yields were flat at
3.6085%, having risen 12 basis points this week already, while
the 10-year yield was steady at 4.0969% and up 10
bps for the week.
The rise in yields offered support to the U.S. dollar
, which was holding near three-month highs at 99.5 against
its major peers, although resistance seems heavy at 99.564 and
100.25.
The euro was flat at $1.1569 after the European
Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged at 2% for the third
meeting in a row on Thursday and repeated that policy was in a
"good place" as economic risks recede.
Oil prices fell and were headed for a third straight month
of declines as a stronger dollar capped commodities gains and
rising supply from major producers offset the impact of Western
sanctions on Russian exports.
Brent crude futures slipped 0.9% to $64.55 a barrel,
while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $60.10,
down 0.8%.
Spot gold prices retraced some of the overnight gains
and were down 0.3% to $4,008 per ounce. They were down 2.5% for
the week and well below the record high of $4,381 hit just last
week.