(Bloomberg) — US equity futures dropped after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed the market’s recent decline as healthy. Asian shares rose as data showed expanding consumption in China.
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Oil also benefited from optimism that demand from top importer China will rise. The dollar and the euro were both little changed, with European stock futures also pointing to a steady open.
Weighing on US stock futures were remarks from Bessent who said he’s not worried about the recent slump that’s wiped trillions of dollars as the US seeks to reshape its economic policies. As for Europe, the focus remains on Germany, where Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz’s spending plan awaits parliamentary approval this week.
Also of interest are US retail sales and manufacturing data due Monday, which can shed more light on the state of the world’s top economy ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision later this week.
“There’s a lot of investor trepidation across the market now, trying to digest all the additional volatility that’s happening and additional uncertainty,” said Travis Spence, global head of exchange-traded funds at JPMorgan Asset Management.
In Asia, equities advanced in Australia, Japan and South Korea, buoyed by data that showed expanding consumption in China. While a key gauge of Chinese shares listed in Hong Kong rose, the onshore benchmark CSI 300 Index ended Monday slightly lower, reflecting caution on signs of a worsening housing slump in the world’s No. 2 economy.
Treasuries were steady Monday, with the benchmark 10-year yield down 1 basis point to 4.30%.
Elsewhere, investors will also be monitoring a swath of central bank meetings this week as President Donald Trump’s trade salvos test policymakers’ nerves. The Bank of Japan is expected to keep its rate steady after a hike last month and the Bank of England is expected to stand pat.
Meantime, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Jerome faces a tricky task of both assuring investors the economy remains on solid footing and policymakers are ready to step in with support.
“Trump and his administration have expressed more tolerance for adverse economic fallout from tariffs than we had thought,” Jonathan Millar and colleagues at Barclays Plc wrote. For the Fed, “we expect the median dot to show just one cut this year and two next.”
