HK stocks set for greatest weekly efficiency in 4 months

Yen at two month high up on rising bets on rate hikes this year

Gold consistent near record peak, oil set for 3rd weekly drop

By Ankur Banerjee

SINGAPORE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Global stocks meandered on Friday ahead of essential U.S. payrolls data as investors thought about prospects that a more comprehensive trade war could be prevented, while the yen struck its greatest in almost 2 months on increasing chances of more rate hikes in Japan this year.

In a week that began with U.S. President Donald Trump beginning a trade war, investors have actually been hesitant in making significant relocations as threatened tasks on China were executed.

Beijing's measured tit-for-tat action has actually left room for settlements, experts state, and bahnreise-wiki.de that has actually enabled traders to concentrate on the AI style in China in the wake of home-grown start-up DeepSeek's breakthrough.

European futures indicated a subdued open after the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed at a record high on Thursday on the back of robust company revenues.

European stocks have actually staged their best efficiency 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 accc.rcec.sinica.edu.tw Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down about 0.2% as shares of Amazon insinuated prolonged trading over night on weak point in the retailer's cloud computing system and soft projection.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index hit a three-month high, poised for a 4% increase in the week, its greatest weekly performance sustained by DeepSeek-led AI bets.

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

"Whilst there is significant sound and uncertainty, we wear ´ t see escalating 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 but the domestic economy."

On the financial front, jobless claims, layoffs and labour costs/productivity provided a prologue to Friday's keenly awaited January work report, with the data likely to reveal the impact of wild fires in California and cold weather across much of the country.

Nonfarm payrolls are anticipated to have increased by 170,000 tasks last month after rising 256,000 in December, a Reuters poll of financial experts revealed.

"Markets might face some volatility around the data if it beats expectations, however it will not change the path of the FOMC policy as more information will be required," said Anderson Alves, raovatonline.org a trader with ActivTrades.

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

While political uncertainties kept financiers cautious, fears have eased that Trump's technique to tariffs could intensify into a global trade war.

RISING YEN

The Japanese yen has been on a tear this week buoyed by safe-haven circulations in addition to rising expectations of the Bank of Japan increasing interest rates this year, with market value in 34 basis points of hikes for the year.

The yen touched 150.96 per dollar in early trading, its strongest level since December 10 however was last a little bit weaker at 151.71. The currency is headed for an over 2% rise against the dollar today, its strongest 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 but warned it would beware going forward, in the face of a prospective inflation uptick and geopolitical concerns.

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

Gold costs steadied on Friday near record-high levels and were headed for their sixth succeeding weekly gain driven by safe-haven flows.

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee; additional reporting by Stephen Culp, Marc Jones and Alun John; editing by Shri Navaratnam and Sam Holmes)