As markets await Janet Yellen’s speech on financial stability today in Jackson Hole, investors’ attention is focused elsewhere, with global stocks and US futures climbing, despite the headline risk of Yellen signaling she might be going on a hawkish streak.
The Shanghai Composite gained 1.83% on gains in the banking sector ahead of first-half reports. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was up more than 4% to a nine-year high. The Hang Seng was up 1%, while the Nikkei rose 0.5% with Yamaha, Toyota and Sony all rising near 1.0%
The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.33% as 3% and 7% rises in copper and nickel helped miners erase losses in retail.
S&P futures got a modest bump from comments from Gary Cohn in a Financial Times interview that Trump was set to push for tax reform by years end.