US futures tread water at record highs after strong Chinese trade data eases worries about Delta's impact
- US stock futures were flat Tuesday after data showed Chinese exports and imports surged in August.
- The trade data assuaged fears about the impact of the Delta coronavirus variant on China's economy.
- Elsewhere, US bond yields ticked up and bitcoin dipped despite becoming legal tender in El Salvador.
US futures were roughly flat and traded at around record highs on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected Chinese trade data for August dampened investors' fears about the impact of the Delta coronavirus variant on the world's second-biggest economy.
S&P 500 futures were little changed, Dow Jones futures were also flat, and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.07% at 6:50 a.m. ET, as traders returned from Monday's Labor Day holiday in the US. Those levels were a retreat from small rises earlier Tuesday.
In Asia, China's CSI 300 finished 1.2% higher after data released Tuesday showed that imports and exports unexpectedly surged in August to record highs. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed 0.86% higher, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.68%.
However, Europe's Stoxx 600 fell 0.34% while the UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.35%.
Global stocks remain at around record highs despite signs that the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant and supply chain issues are affecting economies' recoveries from pandemic restrictions.
Somewhat counterintuitively, global equities have risen after a weaker-than-expected US jobs report on Friday, in the expectation that the Federal Reserve will now have to keep up its support for the US economy and markets longer than previously planned.
The Chinese trade data helped assuage international investors' concerns about the impact that Delta and supply problems are having on the world's exporting powerhouse. It showed that monthly exports jumped 25.6% year-on-year to a record $294.3 billion.
Analysts said the surge was likely due to US and European retailers stocking up on Christmas products ahead of time, on the back of worries about supply issues later in the year.
Jeffrey Halley, chief market analyst for Asia at trading platform Oanda, said the data was impressive, "coming against a background of sporadic Delta variant closures, port congestion, supply chain bottlenecks and higher commodity prices.
"Asian equities are breathing a sigh of relief," he said. But he added: "Whether the warm afterglow survives the return of US markets ... is up for discussion."
Brent crude, the international benchmark oil price, slipped 0.37% to $71.96 a barrel on Tuesday, having earlier risen on the Chinese data. WTI crude, the US benchmark, fell 1.17% to $68.47.
The dollar index climbed 0.31% to 92.32. In the bond market, the yield on the key 10-year US Treasury note added 4.3 basis points to reach 1.365%. Yields move inversely to prices.
Steen Jakobsen, chief investment officer at Saxo Bank, said the rise in yields could be due to investors feeling jittery about strong inflation and the auction of three-, 10- and 30-year US bonds this week.
"Wage inflation continues to strengthen," said Jakobsen. "It leaves US Treasuries vulnerable to more selloff especially during a week of heavy supply."
Bitcoin fell 1.4% on Tuesday as El Salvador's law to make bitcoin legal tender came into effect, to trade at around $51,200. Some bitcoin fans on Reddit and Twitter were encouraging others to buy $30 of the token to celebrate the milestone, but the movement failed to support the bitcoin price.