Stocks Set Sights on Highs as Tech Leads Charge – Europe Market Wrap
US stock futures are heading for a new high, with technology shares leading the way as the earnings season enters its busiest period. Gold rose for the eighth consecutive day.
Contracts for the S&P 500 increased 0.3% as the benchmark closed less than half a percentage point short of an all-time high. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.7%. Micron surged 5% in premarket trade after announcing intentions to expand its memory chip production. The Yen fluctuated as concerns about intervention persisted, while the Dollar remained near its 2022 low.
Stocks are recovering after a period of volatility caused by an increasingly tense geopolitical backdrop and a return of trade concerns. Investors are now looking to earnings to sustain a three-year bull market that has expanded in recent months, after big tech powered much of the earlier gains.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 was propelled higher by a 21% increase in Puma after the Pinault family sold a share in the sportswear company. MSCI’s Asia regional index rose to a new high as South Korean chipmakers thrived, despite Trump’s threat of more US import tariffs.
According to Goldman Sachs strategists, investor appetite for risk is at its greatest level in five years, as economic confidence overcomes geopolitical concern.
