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Corporate results and U.S. PCE inflation the week's focus
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Brent down 1.5%, gold off 1.26%
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FTSE 100 up 1%, STOXX 0.2%, S&P 500 futures up 0.4%
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(Updates at 0840 GMT)
By Kevin Buckland and Alun John
TOKYO/LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - World stocks
recovered some losses on Monday and bonds, oil and gold dipped
as investors reversed some of their more defensive positions
taken going into the weekend on fears of a wider Middle East
conflict.
The week ahead is packed with corporate earnings, with 158
companies in the S&P 500 and 173 companies in the STOXX 600
reporting first quarter results this week according to data from
LSEG workspace.
These include several big European banks, as well as U.S.
tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet, with the latter in
particular focus after chip maker Nvidia's ( NVDA ) 10% drop on
Friday, its biggest percentage fall in four years.
Crucial U.S. PCE inflation data, the Federal Reserve's
preferred gauge, due Friday, finishes off the week. After CPI
data earlier this month, markets currently see the first Fed
rate cut coming in September.
Ahead of all that, shares rose on Monday, with the STOXX 600
up 0.25% and S&P 500 futures 0.36% higher after
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose
0.8%. All fell on Friday.
London's commodities-heavy FTSE100 rose around 1%
the biggest gainer among large Europpean benchmarks, as tin and
nickel rose to new muulti-month highs.
It was outpaced by a 2.3% gain for the Portugese index
as oil company Galp Energia had a STOXX 600
topping 17% jump after saying a field off Namibia could contain
10 bln barrels of oil.
In a further reversal of Friday's "rise off" mood, gold
eased back from near its peaks, U.S. Treasury yields ticked
higher and crude oil prices declined as the potential for a
major supply disruption waned.
In recent weeks, investors have taken cautious positions on
Fridays fearing an escalation in the conflict in the Middle East
over the weekend when markets are closed and they are unable to
trade.
"It seems neither Israel nor Iran want an escalation in the
crisis in the Middle East ... and with a subsequent strike from
either side not looking like it's coming, investor concerns have
eased somewhat," said Kazuo Kamitani, a strategist at Nomura
Securities.
However, Kamitani said expectations of later Federal Reserve
interest rate cuts and concerns about chip sector earnings will
continue to keep investors on their toes.
Iran said on Friday that it had no plan to retaliate
following an apparent Israeli drone attack within its borders,
which in turn followed an Iranian missile and drone attack on
Israel days before.
HAVEN OUTFLOWS
Bond yields - which climb when prices fall - rose back
toward multi-month highs.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was last up 3
basis points to 4.64%, heading back toward the five-month peak
of 4.696% reached last week on the view that the Fed would be in
no hurry to ease policy amid robust economic data and sticky
inflation.
European yields also edged higher.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against
six major peers, eased 0.05% to 106.05. It was also at a
five-month top last week, at 106.51.
"As long as there is this uncertainty about the cutting
cylce particularly in the U.S, its interesting for investors to
be in dollar longs because of its dual status as a high yielding
currency and also a defensive currency," said Yvan Berthoux FX
strategist at UBS.
Gold slid 1.3% to $2,358.75, retreating from near the
all-time peak of $2,431.29 earlier in the month.
Crude oil fell as traders put the focus back on fundamentals
with a rise in U.S. stockpiles as the backdrop
Brent futures fell 137 cents, or 1.56% to $85.92 a
barrel.