HK stocks set for greatest weekly performance in 4 months

Yen at two month high on rising bets on rate walkings this year

Gold steady near record peak, oil set for third weekly drop

By Ankur Banerjee

SINGAPORE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Global stocks meandered on Friday ahead of crucial U.S. payrolls data as financiers considered potential customers that a broader trade war might be prevented, while the yen struck its highest in almost 2 months on rising odds of more rate hikes in Japan this year.

In a week that started with U.S. President Donald Trump starting a trade war, financiers have been reluctant in making major relocations as threatened responsibilities on China were carried out.

Beijing's determined tit-for-tat response has left room for forum.batman.gainedge.org negotiations, lespoetesbizarres.free.fr experts say, and that has allowed traders to concentrate on the AI theme in China in the wake of home-grown start-up DeepSeek's breakthrough.

European futures pointed to a suppressed open after the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed at a record high on Thursday on the back of robust business earnings.

European stocks have actually staged their finest performance in a years against Wall Street in the very first six weeks of 2025, however 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 relieved 0.21%.

Futures for Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down about 0.2% as shares of Amazon slipped in extended trading over night on weakness in the retailer's cloud computing system and soft projection.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index struck a three-month high, poised for a 4% rise in the week, its strongest weekly efficiency 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 since mid-December.

"Whilst there is significant sound and uncertainty, we don ´ t see intensifying trade stress as a video game changer in the prospects for the Chinese market," said James Cook, investment director for emerging markets at Federated Hermes.

"China's bigger problem is not Trump but the domestic economy."

On the financial front, jobless claims, layoffs and labour costs/productivity provided a beginning to Friday's acutely awaited January employment report, with the data most likely to reveal the effect of wild fires in California and winter across much of the nation.

are expected to have actually increased by 170,000 jobs last month after surging 256,000 in December, a Reuters survey of financial experts showed.

"Markets might face some volatility around the data if it beats expectations, however it won't change the course of the FOMC policy as more data will be required," said Anderson Alves, a trader with ActivTrades.

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

While political uncertainties kept financiers careful, worries have actually alleviated that Trump's method to tariffs could escalate into a global trade war.

RISING YEN

The Japanese yen has actually been on a tear today buoyed by safe-haven flows along with increasing expectations of the Bank of Japan increasing rates of interest 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 greatest 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 efficiency because 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 however warned it would beware going forward, in the face of a potential inflation uptick and geopolitical worries.

Oil costs increased marginally on Friday however were on track for a third straight week of decrease.

Gold costs steadied on Friday near record-high levels and were headed for their 6th successive weekly gain driven by safe-haven circulations.

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