Oil eases, bringing some respite to stocks and battered bonds

BOSTON/LONDON: World stocks rose on Friday and oil prices slipped after US President Donald Trump said the US would not attack Iran before next month's midterm elections, easing some near-term concerns about energy supplies.
Investors remained cautious, however, as they weighed another wave of fundraising by technology companies while borrowing costs in some of the world's biggest economies hovered near multi-year highs.
European shares gained 1.25 per cent and Wall Street stocks were positive too, with the S&P 500 ticking up 0.33 per cent and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rising 0.4 per cent.
Brent crude futures fell about 0.75 per cent to $103 per barrel after ⁠surging more than 4 per cent in the previous session. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.56 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei closed little changed ⁠on the day.
The third-quarter earnings season kicks off next week with a number of Wall Street banks set to report.
Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said that relatively narrow market participation in the S&P 500 suggests investors believe large technology stocks are better positioned to withstand higher oil prices and rising yields, while remaining cautious about ‌other areas of the market.
'A disappointment, particularly in the tech sector, could trigger a ​pullback, and not just the usual ⁠choppy market we've come to expect', he added in an email.
US Treasury yields ticked up after falling on Thursday, ​when a sale of 30-year government bonds drew solid ‌demand. In Europe, government borrowing costs were broadly lower after a sharp selloff driven most recently by worries about high inflation and France's fiscal outlook.
The premium investors demand to hold 10-year French debt over German Bunds was trading at ​about 137 basis points, and was on track to narrow by around 3 bps over the week.
France has been hit particularly hard by the global bond selloff as investors scrutinise its debt burden, budget deficit and political outlook ahead of the 2027 presidential election. — AFP