Investors are making another attempt at a turnaround in US stocks as shares from Asia to Europe struggle to gain ground amid a global equity rout.
The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index jumped at the market’s open yesterday, after a rally evaporated in the last hour of trading on Tuesday. US Treasuries dropped, European stocks pared declines and US futures extended gains after US durable goods orders climbed the most in one year.
“We’ll have more volatility until we get more visibility,” Paris-based Ofi Gestion Privee fund manager Jacques Porta said. “The Chinese devaluation worried investors and the economic data has struggled. The potential rate increase in the US also gives worry that worldwide economic growth will slow.”
Concern that Chinese policymakers might fail to prevent a hard landing has convulsed global markets, triggering a rush from all but the safest of assets.
The S&P 500 climbed 2.2 percent at 9:36am in New York yesterday. US stocks fell 1.4 percent on Tuesday.
The yield on 10-year US Treasuries rose 9 basis points to 2.16 percent. Gold fell and the dollar strengthened.
However, the best day since 2011 was not enough to reverse fortunes for European stocks, which yesterday resumed declines.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index slid 0.8 percent to 353.61 at 2:44pm in London. The gauge rebounded 0.2 percent from an earlier drop of 2.7 percent after a report showed US durable goods data beat estimates.
The European stock index has tumbled 11 percent this month, on course for its worst month since 2008. Seventeen out of 18 western-European markets fell 10 percent or more from their highs through Monday’s close.
Many in Asia took heart from China’s moves to boost its economy.
The TAIEX gained 0.5 percent, while Australia’s S&P ASX/200 rose 0.7 percent to 5,172.8, helped by buying of resource-related shares.
Japan’s Nikkei Index and South Korea’s KOPSI were among the bright spots, with the former rising 3.2 percent as the yen weakened. The latter jumped 2.6 percent in its biggest rise in two years on hopes of possible state intervention.
However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.5 percent to 21,305.17, while the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 3.1 percent.
Additional reporting by AP
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