(Bloomberg) — European stocks powered higher for a fourth day as investors snapped up mining shares. US stock futures paused after the S&P 500 closed just shy of an all-time high.
Anglo American Plc, Rio Tinto Plc and Glencore Plc rallied more than 3%, buoyed by commodity prices and signs that China is taking steps to curb industrial overcapacity. The stocks led gains in Europe’s Stoxx 600, which added 0.4% and was on track for its longest winning streak in a month.
In the US, S&P 500 contracts were little changed as applications for US unemployment benefits nudged lower. Treasury yields rose slightly and the dollar firmed 0.1%. Bitcoin dipped to around $111,000. Nvidia Corp. rose 0.9% in premarket trading. Delta Air Lines Inc. jumped 13% after restoring its full-year guidance.
Subscribe to the Stock Movers Podcast on Apple, Spotify and other Podcast Platforms.
While tariff headlines have dominated the newsflow this week, there’s been little to derail a rally in US stocks. Signs of economic strength, confidence in the upcoming earnings season and optimism for artificial intelligence have given traders the conviction to keeping buying equities.
“The market’s sensitivity toward tariffs has diminished,” said Marija Veitmane, senior multi-asset strategist at State Street Global Markets. “The key driver of equity returns for us has been and remain corporate earnings, particularly in the IT sector, and here policy and trade uncertainty have not caused too much damage.”
US President Donald Trump issued a fresh batch of tariff demands on Wednesday, including a 50% rate on Brazil that sent the real tumbling. He also confirmed that the US would begin levying a 50% tariff on copper next month.
LME copper rose 1% on Thursday, snapping a five-day losing streak. The metal gained 1.9% in New York, extending an advance to more than 11% since Monday, the day before Trump first floated the size of the tariff.
Technology earnings will be closely watched when earnings season kicks off next week. Analysts forecast second-quarter profits for the Magnificent 7 to surge 14%, compared with a modest 2.8% increase expected for the S&P 500, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.
Although equity markets remain upbeat on the US economic outlook, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists cautioned against leaning too heavily toward either defensive or cyclical stocks.
“The equity market appears to be pricing an optimistic outlook for the US economy, but we believe there are risks in both directions and investors should not be clearly cyclical or defensive,” strategists including Ryan Hammond said.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 4.35%. The Treasury will sell $22 billion of 30-year bonds Thursday after a solid sale of 10-year notes. Initial jobless claims are expected to hold steady from the previous week.
Katharine Neiss, chief European economist at PGIM Fixed Income, warns that the average US tariff rate could ultimately exceed current expectations of “a shade above 10%.”
“There is still a huge amount of uncertainty and I don’t expect that it’s going to get resolved,” Neiss told Bloomberg TV. “These negotiations are going to drift, maybe by the time we get to the end of the year. That’s kind of bad news because the uncertainty itself is depressing decisions.”
Corporate Highlights:
Ferrero International SA, the Italian family-owned company known for its signature gold foil-wrapped chocolates, is close to acquiring cereal producer WK Kellogg Co. for about $3 billion, Bloomberg News has reported.Blackstone Inc. has signed a private credit partnership with Legal & General Group Plc that the two firms aim to grow to up to $20 billion over the next five years, according to a Blackstone spokesperson.WPP Plc has named Microsoft Corp. executive Cindy Rose as its next chief executive officer, replacing Mark Read, as the advertising group looks for ways to restart sales growth and win new customers.Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is rolling out Grok 4 just months after releasing its previous iteration, underscoring the frenetic pace of AI development.NTT Inc. sold $17.7 billion of dollar and euro bonds on Wednesday, marking the biggest-ever offering by an Asian corporate in the global debt market.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 8:31 a.m. New York timeNasdaq 100 futures were little changedFutures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changedThe Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4%The MSCI World Index was little changed
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changedThe euro fell 0.1% to $1.1705The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3562The Japanese yen was little changed at 146.38 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin rose 0.1% to $110,911.7Ether rose 1.4% to $2,777.64
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.35%Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.67%Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.59%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $67.80 a barrelSpot gold rose 0.2% to $3,318.66 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Sagarika Jaisinghani, Sabrina Nelson Garcinuño, Subrat Patnaik, Abhishek Vishnoi and John Viljoen.
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.