Stocks drift, dollar wobbles as markets bide time ahead of US data

By Rae Wee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Stocks struggled for absorption connected Thursday portion the dollar stumbled arsenic the euphoria from marketplace tailwinds earlier successful the week fizzled out, with traders looking to U.S. information aboriginal successful the time for further catalysts.

U.S. Treasury yields were elevated and the benchmark 10-year output roseate to a one-month top, successful portion owed to worries implicit President Donald Trump's fund bundle that would adhd trillions of dollars to the U.S. debt. [US/]

Investors were greeted with a plethora of bully quality earlier this week from a U.S.-China trade-war truce to a raft of headline-grabbing concern deals from the Middle East during Trump's Gulf tour, successful moves that breathed caller beingness into battered planetary stocks.

But astir of the optimism died down by Thursday, leaving MSCI's broadest scale of Asia-Pacific shares extracurricular Japan was small changed and Wall Street futures somewhat little aft notching marginal gains during the overnight currency session.

"We've had a immense party, everyone's hung over, and present we're conscionable recuperating and waiting for the adjacent large party," said Tony Sycamore, a marketplace expert astatine IG.

While the commercialized woody betwixt the U.S. and China gave markets immoderate crushed to cheer, the lack of clarity implicit Trump's commercialized policies has near markets with a consciousness of lingering uncertainty implicit the planetary economical outlook.

Investors were besides waiting for further details of commercialized deals with different countries.

"I get the feeling determination is simply a small spot of a reluctance to instrumentality the marketplace higher from here," said Sycamore.

"I don't deliberation overseas investors are going to beryllium rushing backmost to that overweight presumption they've had successful U.S. equities due to the fact that of that assurance that has been shaken during the events implicit the past mates of months, some from tariffs and lawmakers."

Nasdaq futures were down 0.02% portion S&P 500 futures fell 0.13%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.09% portion FTSE futures ticked up 0.08%.

In Japan, the Nikkei was down 0.9%. China's CSI300 blue-chip scale dipped 0.23% portion Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was small changed.

For now, investors were awaiting Thursday's information connected U.S. retail income and net from Walmart, a bellwether for the U.S. retail industry, for a cheque connected the pulse connected user sentiment.

A disappointing result could provender fears of a recession successful the world's largest economy, which would beryllium a resistance connected markets.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is besides scheduled to talk aboriginal successful the day, wherever the absorption volition beryllium connected immoderate clues regarding the outlook for U.S. rates.