Bank earnings, data centre deal buoy Wall St as Bessent keeps pressure on China

Bank of America and Morgan Stanley kept the string of strong bank results running, helping buoy stocks on Wall Street along with gains for chipmakers and semiconductor firms following the latest major data centre deal backing the artificial intelligence boom.

Meanwhile, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent kept the pressure on his Chinese counterparts, calling out commerce vice minister Li Chenggang for being unhelpful while reaffirming optimism a truce can be called.

French stocks rallied as LVMH’s increased sales spurred gains across other luxury companies such as Hermes and Kering as Chinese demands shows signs of life.

And New Zealand’s NZX will welcome another junior miner to its bourse when ASX-listed Uvre takes a secondary listing on this side of the Tasman, while gold prices continue to push to new highs.

Making it rain

Morgan Stanley gained 5.8% in late trading while Bank of America was up 3.9% after the US lenders beat earnings expectations, with dealmaking and trading desks fuelling gains for the Wall Street banks.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.3% in late trading, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5% with chipmakers Intel and Advanced Micro Devices among gainers after a consortium led by BlackRock announced plans to buy Texas-based Aligned Data Centres from Macquarie Asset Management for US$40 billion including debt and as Dutch equipment maker ASML beat earnings expectations.

The kiwi dollar traded at 57.13 US cents at 7am in Auckland from 57.21 cents yesterday as tensions remained high between the US and China, with Treasury secretary Scott Bessent giving a wide-ranging interview on CNBC, saying President Donald Trump’s good relationship with his counterpart Xi Jinping should stop things from getting out of control, while also calling out Chinese commerce vice minister Li Chenggang as being difficult.

“Newsflow has been light. US equities are up slightly, paring strong gains after the open,” Bank of New Zealand senior markets strategist Jason Wong said in a note. “The US 10-year rate took another peak below 4% but yields are now modestly higher.”

Luxe leanings

Stock markets across the Atlantic were mixed, with the UK’s FTSE 100 index down 0.3% and Germany’s DAX 30 down 0.2%, while France’s CAC 40 jumped 2% as LVMH led a rally among luxury companies, surging 12% as investors welcomed yesterday’s increase sales and improved demand out of China, with Hermes and Kering following it higher.

The kiwi dollar traded at 86.43 yen from 86.47 yen yesterday as political uncertainty remains in Japan as Liberal Democratic Party leader Sanae Takaichi lobbies opposition parties to secure the prime ministership.

Australian futures are pointing to a 0.2% decline for the S&P/ASX 200 index when trading opens today, with Australian employment data the key release across the Tasman.

Local data today include September partial inflation figures, while the NZX welcomes junior miner Uvre to the local bourse, with the ASX-listed firm taking up a secondary listing today. That comes as the gold price continues to push to new highs, with future sup 1.1% at US$4,211 an ounce at 7am in Auckland.

Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from yanzheng xia on Unsplash.