(Bloomberg) -- Asia stocks drifted Tuesday and commodity markets steadied after Monday’s selloff as investors weighed talk of stimulus withdrawal and a resurgence in the delta virus variant.
Equities rose in Japan, which reopened after a holiday. Stocks in Hong Kong saw modest gains, while those in China and South Korea dipped. U.S. futures fluctuated. Earlier, the S&P 500 closed little changed, while the Nasdaq 100 ticked up. The dollar and Treasury yields held overnight gains. Crude oil pared a decline after it touched the lowest in three weeks on concern the delta strain will hamper demand growth.
Gold was steady after Monday’s volatility and Bitcoin traded back around $46,000.
Investors mulled comments from Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic that the central bank should move to taper its asset purchases with another strong month or two of employment gains, and proceed faster than in past episodes. U.S. inflation data this week will be closely watched after Friday’s jobs report fanned expectations that unwinding will start soon.
At the same time, the spread of the highly contagious delta in corners of the world has raised concern the recovery from the pandemic will be derailed. New coronavirus cases in the U.S. surged to the highest weekly level since early February, while deaths increased the most since December.
“What we are experiencing right now is a pause in the recovery,” Loreen Gilbert, WealthWise Financial chief executive officer, said on Bloomberg Television. “Investors should expect some volatility in the markets as we sort out what the Fed is going to do, as we sort out the delta variant.”
For more market analysis read our MLIV blog.
Here are some key events to watch out for this week:
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester; Kansas City Fed President Esther George among Fed speakers through the weekThe U.S. consumer price index on Wednesday is forecast to show prices increased again in JulyOPEC Monthly Oil Market Report due Thursday
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures were flat as of 10:35 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 was little changedNasdaq 100 futures were little changed. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%Topix index rose 1%Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2%Kospi index fell 0.6%Hang Seng Index added 0.2%Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2%
Currencies
The Japanese yen was little changed at 110.35 per dollarThe offshore yuan traded at 6.4828 per dollarThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changedThe euro traded at $1.1736
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 1.32%Australia’s 10-year bond yield was at 1.21%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $66.78 a barrelGold was at $1,735.14 an ounce, up 0.3%
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