Stocks Bulls Slow Their Charge, Bitcoin Back Above $50,000

A raft of Asian manufacturing surveys overnight had suggested supply bottlenecks were still tightening, while in Europe Spanish unemployment fell again, Swiss GDP data disappointed and Hungary producer price inflation came in at an eye-watering 14.8%.

Record-high world stocks slowed their charge on Thursday as concerns grew over the Chinese economy after a run of soft data, while the risk of a sub-par U.S. payrolls report kept the dollar on the defensive. A raft of Asian manufacturing surveys overnight had suggested supply bottlenecks were still tightening, while in Europe Spanish unemployment fell again, Swiss GDP data disappointed and Hungary producer price inflation came in at an eye-watering 14.8%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index crawled up 0.3% supported by travel, oil, car and chemicals companies although signs of slowing global growth and a ninth day in the last 10 of gains for the euro limited the rises. Wall Street futures were pointing modestly higher again while expectations that global stimulus will remain abundant also helped crytocurrency bitcoin get back above $50,000.