Equities rise modestly as tech shares recover

What matters in U.S. ⁠and ⁠global markets today

By Mike Dolan, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets

By ⁠the standards of the year so far, the market-moving news flow has slowed to a trickle, with world ​markets subdued as Wall Street returns from its three-day weekend.

Meantime, geopolitical attention shifts to Geneva today as the U.S. and Iran continue nuclear talks.

I’ll get into that and more ‌below.

But first, check out my latest column ‌on the trade-offs of a ‘global euro’ for European policymakers.

And listen to the latest episode of the Morning Bid daily podcast. Subscribe to hear Reuters journalists discuss the ⁠biggest news in markets ⁠and finance seven days a week.

SLEEPY ‘UBER-BULLS’

As U.S. markets reopen on Tuesday, stock futures were slightly in ​the red ahead of the bell, with traders perhaps still wary of the wild AI-related swings in various parts of the tech sector last week.

Despite that, the broader mood remains upbeat. Bank of America’s monthly global fund manager survey for February continues to suggest investor sentiment is “uber-bullish” on the economy and earnings for the year - albeit with red flags ​still flying about possible overspending on AI infrastructure.

Elsewhere, global stocks were steady. In Asia, the mood was muted in holiday-thinned trading, with Japan’s Nikkei ⁠slipping ⁠after yesterday’s lower-than-expected GDP print. Those ⁠figures showed the Japanese economy ​grew at an annualised 0.2% in the fourth quarter, well below a forecast 1.6% gain.

That weighed on the yen on Monday, with the ​currency easing 0.4% against the dollar after ⁠last week’s almost 3% rise, before reversing its losses on Tuesday.