* U.S. futures down 0.4%, European stocks flat
* Euro zone Q1 GDP falls less than expected
* China, Japan stocks dip ahead of long holiday
* Global asset performance https://tmsnrt.rs/33TWwY1
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Wall Street futures suggested a
softer open on Friday following Thursday's record peak on strong
U.S. data and earnings, while demand for risky assets put the
dollar on course for its longest weekly losing streak since
July.
U.S. stock futures ESc1 were down 0.4% after the S&P 500
.SPX closed at an all-time high.
Data on Thursday showed U.S. economic growth accelerated in
the first quarter, fuelled by massive government aid to
households and businesses. That came against the backdrop of the Federal Reserve's
reassurance on Wednesday that it was not time yet to begin
discussing any change in its easy monetary policy. With just over a half of S&P 500 companies reporting
earnings, about 87% beat market expectations, according to
Refinitiv, the highest level in recent years.
"The Federal Reserve continues to support, Biden has this
huge stimulus programme as well and the earnings season
continues -- so far we have seen relatively benign as well as
strong earnings," said Eddie Cheng, head of international
multi-asset portfolio management at Wells Fargo Asset
Management.
MSCI's broadest gauge of world stocks covering 50 markets
.MIWD00000PUS dipped 0.25% but remained close to a record peak
touched the previous day, up 4.9% on the month.
For both the MSCI world index and the S&P500, analysts are
expecting earnings in the next 12 months to recover to above
pre-pandemic levels.
In Europe, the euro STOXX index .STOXX was down 0.22% and
Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE was flat.
Euro zone GDP data showed a year-on-year drop of 1.8% in the
first quarter, stronger than expectations of a 2% fall, though
economists said the bloc was on a recovery path. "There is increasingly bright light at the end of the
tunnel," Commerzbank analysts said.
"The speed of the vaccinations is picking up and the EU
recovery fund is also finally getting off the ground."
New coronavirus infections in India surged to a fresh
record, however, and France's health minister said the dangers
of the Indian variant must not be underestimated. "Risky assets have had quite a few wobbles within the
month," said Cheng.
"We need to get used to the fact that this is not going to
be a straight line."
The euro extended its bull run to a two-month high of
$1.2150 in the previous session but last stood at $1.2083
EUR= , down 0.29%, following the euro zone data.
"The euro is more sensitive to the European economic
outlook, than to (what) happens in the U.S.", said Kit Juckes,
head of FX strategy at Societe Generale.
Germany's 10-year Bund yield, which moves inversely to
price, slipped 0.015% to -0.208% DE10YT=RR .
The dollar gained 0.25% against a basket of currencies
=USD , after hitting a two-month low on Thursday, but remained
on course for a four-week losing streak, its longest since July.
The Canadian dollar hit a three-year high of C$1.2268 per
U.S. unit CAD=D4 , boosted by the Bank of Canada's tapering of
its bond-buying programme and higher commodities including oil
and lumber.
The dollar was steady against the yen at 108.86 JPY= .
Mainland Chinese shares .CSI300 lost 0.8% while Japan's
Nikkei .N225 also shed 0.8% on position adjustments ahead of a
long weekend. Both markets will be closed through Wednesday.
Oil prices fell a dollar a barrel on concerns about wider
lockdowns in India and Brazil.
Brent LCOc1 reached $67.56 per barrel, after reaching a
high of $68.95 on Thursday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate
(WTI) fell dropped to $64.01 per barrel CLc1 .
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World FX rates YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Asset performance in US dollar terms https://tmsnrt.rs/33TWwY1
Euro zone economic growth and stocks https://tmsnrt.rs/3e1Ejgi
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