By Dhara Ranasinghe and Kevin Buckland
LONDON (Reuters) -Global stock markets cruised towards their best week since August on Friday, with sentiment in global markets underpinned by Donald Trump’s decisive U.S. election victory, while China unveiled measures to support its flagging economy.
A day after the U.S. Federal Reserve delivered a quarter-point rate cut, as anticipated, focus turned back to the fallout of Tuesday’s U.S. election as well as headlines out of Beijing.
The yuan weakened as China unveiled details of its plans to stimulate the world’s second-largest economy.
U.S. stock futures were mostly flat, while Europe’s STOXX index was a touch lower . Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.3% higher.
The modest moves masked what has been a generally strong week in stock markets, led by Wall Street shares, as Trump’s election win stoked expectations of lighter regulation and tax cuts that could further boost the U.S. economy.
The S&P 500 stock index is up over 4% this week and set for its best week in over a year, while MSCI’s world stock index is set for its best week since August with a gain of just over 3% and stands just shy of record highs.
“What you are going to get because of the clean sweep – is a mandate to improve the U.S. economy. So, taxes will come down, bureaucracy will ease and regulation will become lighter,” said Guy Miller, chief markets strategist at Zurich Insurance Group.
“Between now and year-end, there is a tailwind for U.S. stocks. The U.S. market has potential.”
Elsewhere, Germany’s DAX stock index was a tad lower a day after posting its best daily performance of 2024 so far, helped by expectations that Germany could scrap its debt brake.
CHINA TRIES TO LOWER LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEBT RISK
China will let local governments issue an additional 6 trillion yuan ($840 billion) in bonds to swap for off-balance sheet or “hidden” debt over three years, an official said on Friday, in a crucial step to lower systemic risks in the flagging economy.
Optimism over stimulus measures from China, especially as Trump’s win raises the prospect of sharp tariff hikes, has buoyed Chinese stocks.
Mainland blue chips rose 3% on Thursday but were down 1% on Friday, as was Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, in a sign of some caution ahead of the announcement.
The offshore Chinese yuan was also 0.3% softer at 7.1717 per dollar . China-exposed European luxury and mining stocks each fell over 2%.
DBS’s China equity strategist James Wang said in a note that Chinese stocks are “skewed to the downside in the near term, and the market is not fully pricing in a 60% tariff implication”.
U.S. TREASURY YIELDS FALL ON POWELL REMARKS
U.S. Treasury yields were broadly lower after Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday signalled continued, patient policy easing.
Ten-year bond yields were last down almost 5 basis points on the day at 4.29%, having reversed sharp rises seen following the U.S. election result.
Powell said Tuesday’s election, which will put in the White House a president who has pledged widespread deportation of immigrants, broad-based tariffs and tax cuts, would have no “near-term” impact on U.S. monetary policy.
“The Fed pointed to a more uncertain economic outlook and inflation remaining elevated,” said Mahmood Pradhan, head of global macroeconomics at the Amundi Investment Institute.
“Together with a likely change in policy direction under the new administration, we expect a more uncertain and measured pace of easing next year.”
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers, ticked up slightly to 104.48, but that followed a 0.7% drop on Thursday, its biggest since Aug. 23. On Wednesday, it soared 1.53%, the most in over two years, a sign of increased volatility as investors assess the impact of the new Trump administration’s policies.
The euro and sterling dipped around 0.2% each against the dollar, while the dollar slipped 0.4% to 152.35 yen.
Bitcoin was flat at around $76,000, following a nearly 10% surge this week, hitting a record peak of $76,980 on Thursday. Trump has vowed to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet”.
And after a rollercoaster week, gold fell 0.7% to $2,688. It slumped more than 3% on Wednesday, but bounced 1.8% overnight. Last week it surged to an all-time high of $2,790.15.
Brent crude oil futures fell 1.4% to $74.55 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slumped 1.7% to $71.14.
(Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe in London and Kevin Buckland in Tokyo; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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