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HK stocks set for archmageriseswiki.com greatest weekly performance in 4 months

Yen at 2 month high on rising bets on rate hikes this year

Gold consistent near record peak, oil set for third weekly drop

By Ankur Banerjee

SINGAPORE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Global stocks meandered on Friday ahead of crucial U.S. payrolls information as financiers considered potential customers that a broader trade war could be avoided, while the yen struck its highest in almost two months on increasing chances of more rate walkings in Japan this year.

In a week that started with U.S. President Donald Trump starting a trade war, investors have been reluctant in making major relocations as threatened responsibilities on China were implemented.

Beijing's measured tit-for-tat action has left space for settlements, experts say, gratisafhalen.be which has actually enabled traders to focus on the AI theme in China in the wake of home-grown start-up DeepSeek's breakthrough.

European futures pointed to a subdued open after the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed at a record high on Thursday on the back of robust business profits.

European stocks have actually staged their best performance in a decade against Wall Street in the very first 6 weeks of 2025, but focus is now on whether those gains can be sustained.

Eurostoxx 50 futures were down 0.41%, while FTSE futures fell 0.39%. DAX futures alleviated 0.21%.

Futures for Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down about 0.2% as shares of Amazon insinuated prolonged trading overnight on weakness in the retailer's cloud computing unit and soft forecast.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index struck a three-month high, poised for a 4% rise in the week, its strongest weekly efficiency sustained by DeepSeek-led AI bets.

China's blue-chip stock index was 0.4% higher after touching a one-month high leaving MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan at its greatest since mid-December.

"Whilst there is substantial sound and uncertainty, we don ´ t see intensifying trade tensions as a video game changer in the prospects for the Chinese market," said James Cook, financial investment director for emerging markets at Federated Hermes.

"China's larger issue is not Trump however the domestic economy."

On the front, out of work claims, layoffs and labour costs/productivity offered a prologue to Friday's keenly awaited January work report, with the information most likely to show the effect of wild fires in California and winter throughout much of the nation.

Nonfarm payrolls are anticipated to have actually increased by 170,000 tasks last month after surging 256,000 in December, nerdgaming.science a Reuters poll of economic experts showed.

"Markets might deal with some volatility around the information if it beats expectations, but it will not change the course of the FOMC policy as more information will be needed," said Anderson Alves, a trader with ActivTrades.

Markets are pricing in 43 basis points of relieving this year from the Fed with a rate cut in July totally priced in as policymakers remain in no rush to start the rate-cutting cycle again.

While political uncertainties kept investors careful, fears have actually alleviated that Trump's technique to tariffs might intensify into a global trade war.

RISING YEN

The Japanese yen has actually been on a tear today buoyed by safe-haven circulations along with increasing expectations of the Bank of Japan increasing interest rates this year, drapia.org with markets pricing in 34 basis points of hikes for the year.

The yen touched 150.96 per dollar in early trading, its greatest level considering that December 10 but was last a tad weaker at 151.71. The currency is headed for an over 2% increase against the dollar this week, its greatest weekly performance considering that late November.

Sterling was 0.1% lower at $1.24255 after dropping 0.5% on Thursday as the BoE cut interest rates by 25 basis points however warned it would beware moving forward, in the face of a prospective inflation uptick and geopolitical worries.

Oil prices rose marginally on Friday however were on track for a third straight week of decrease.

Gold rates steadied on Friday near record-high levels and were headed for their 6th successive weekly gain driven by safe-haven flows.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee; extra reporting by Stephen Culp, Marc Jones and users.atw.hu Alun John; modifying by Shri Navaratnam and Sam Holmes)