(Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. stocks were rising on Tuesday morning, hovering around all-time highs as Covid-19 worries weighed on Asian markets.
Shortly after the open, the
gained 78 points, or 0.2%, while the
and the
each added 0.1%.
The Case-Shiller U.S. home-price index for April rose 14.6% year over year, the fastest annual rate in more than 30 years. The index is a key point of interest as investors look for clues about what might prompt the Federal Reserve to potentially raise interest rates or reduce the size of its bond-purchasing program. Data on consumer confidence was also scheduled for release.
In Asia, Tokyo’s
fell 0.8%, while Hong Kong’s
declined 0.9%. The
dipped 0.9%. The
in London lifted 0.6% as the pan-European
was 0.6% higher. The
in Paris climbed 0.6% and Frankfurt’s
rose 1.2%.
“The renewed focus on coronavirus has continued during today’s Asia-Pacific session, especially with Hong Kong having yesterday announced a ban on U.K. visitors and direct flights from the U.K.,” analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets noted, as Asian stocks materially underperformed across Tuesday trading.
In Europe, the reflation trade surged back, with shares in mining, industrial, and financial companies adding buoyancy to major indexes. Meanwhile, the European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator reflected a notable acceleration in economic activity at the end of the second quarter of 2021, rising in June to the highest level in 21 years.
Mortgage lender Nationwide said that British house prices rose 13.4% in June compared with the same period last year—the largest annual rise since 2004. U.K. housebuilder stocks rallied on the news, with shares in
and
at the top of the list of the FTSE 100’s risers.
Shares in French electric company
rose 6% after the group raised its sales forecast for 2021. Rexel now expects same-day sales growth of between 12% and 15%, up from a prior forecast of between 5% and 7%.
(ticker: MS) stock gained 2.8% after the bank doubled its dividend payment to 70 cents a share.
(TXT) stock gained 3.5% after getting upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
(KDP) stock gained 0.9%. Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight.
(FTNT) stock dropped 1.6% after being downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Monness Crespi & Hardt.
(CVNA) stock dropped 2%. Piper Sandler downgraded the company to Neutral from Overweight.
Write to Jacob Sonenshine at jacob.sonenshine@barrons.com
