Surprisingly weak U.S. retail sales data on Thursday also weighed on Treasury bond yields and the dollar, which was enough to keep Wall Street in the green for a second day.
Juiced by the ongoing tech and AI boom, and strength in recent earnings, the S&P 500 has risen 14 out of the last 15 weeks, something it last did in 1972.
The index is now flat on the week, leaving it finely poised to register a 15th-out-of-16-weeks winning streak on Friday. It has only managed this seven times in its history, the last occurrence also being in 1972.
All in all, Asian markets seem set for a fairly positive end to the week on Friday, and perhaps a more somber tone will set in next week. When China re-opens.
The Asian and Pacific economic calendar on Friday includes Japan’s tertiary manufacturing index, South Korean unemployment and trade, New Zealand’s manufacturing PMI, the final estimate of fourth quarter GDP from Malaysia, and Singapore’s trade data.
