WELLINGTON, June 4 ― Japanese index futures rose as Australian and New Zealand debt followed US Treasuries lower. The euro maintained its rebound before tomorrow’s European Central Bank meeting, while crude oil climbed a second day.

Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures rose 0.2 per cent to 15,060 in the Osaka pre-market with the yen near a one-month low, after contracts on Australia’s index also added 0.2 per cent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed by 8.39am in Tokyo, after the US gauge fell less than 0.1 per cent. Australian and New Zealand 10-year yields advanced six basis points, while the euro was steady at US$1.3621 (RM4.4039). Oil in New York rose 0.2 per cent on the outlook for US stockpiles.

Updates on economic growth, producer prices and services in the 18-nation euro region are due today, with investors assessing inflation data to gauge whether the ECB will ease monetary policy this week. Australia is projected to post faster growth for the first quarter, while services gauges for Japan and India are also scheduled. A private report on the US jobs market is due, before data June 6 expected to show American employers added fewer workers last month than in April.

“The market certainly seems to be pricing in a strong set of data from the US this week, which puts risk assets in an interesting position,” Stan Shamu, a markets strategist in Melbourne at IG Ltd., wrote in an e-mail to clients. “At the same time we have the European situation, where traders just continue to speculate what action the ECB will take this week.”

Melco slips

Nikkei 225 futures closed at 15,030 in Japan yesterday, when the stock gauge climbed 0.7 per cent to a two-month high. Futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rose 0.1 per cent to 15,070 today. The yen was little changed at 102.58 per dollar after touching 102.55 yesterday, the weakest level since May 2. The currency was steady at 139.72 per euro following yesterday’s 0.3 per cent drop.

Futures on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index added 0.1 per cent, while contracts on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.1 per cent in most recent trading. Markets in South Korea are closed today for a holiday. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese stocks in New York fell 0.6 per cent, as weaker-than-estimated growth in Macau gambling revenue sent American depositary receipts of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. down 5.9 per cent, the most since April 28.

Tiananmen anniversary

Today is the 25th anniversary of the crackdown in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Google Inc services including search, Gmail and Translate have been disrupted in China since at least late last week, according to Greatfire.org, a site that tracks Internet access. Police detained dozens of people and warned foreign reporters against writing stories about the June 4, 1989, incident, in which troops were sent in to break up student-led protests in the square, resulting in deaths.

Yields on Australian government notes due in a decade climbed to 3.79 per cent in a fourth rising day, set for the highest close since May 14. Similar maturity New Zealand bonds yielded 4.32 per cent, also up a fourth day.

Ten-year Treasury yields rose a fourth day in the US, the longest advance since October, amid speculation gains that last week took rates to an almost one-year low were excessive. Ten-year yields added seven basis points, or 0.07 percentage point, to 2.60 per cent in New York, the highest close since May 13.

Kiwi, Aussie

New Zealand’s dollar, known as the kiwi, was little changed at 84.37 US cents after sliding as much as 0.4 per cent in the last session to 84.19 cents, the lowest intraday level since March 6.

The price for whole milk powder fell for the eighth time at auction, slipping 8.5 per cent, according to results from GlobalDairyTrade. The drop brought the decline in powder since a February 5 tender to 28 per cent. New Zealand is the world’s biggest dairy exporter. The currency rose as much as 0.1 per cent today after construction work in the nation surged a record 16 per cent for the first quarter. Economists forecast an increase of 5.5 per cent.

Australia’s dollar, known as the Aussie, was steady at 92.62 US cents, after adding 0.2 per cent yesterday, when the central bank kept key interest rates at a record low. The nation’s economy probably grew 0.9 per cent last quarter from the previous three months, when it expanded 0.8 per cent, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg before today’s GDP report.

ECB outlook

The euro strengthened as much as 0.4 per cent versus the dollar last session, climbing against almost all of the 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg after data showed euro- area inflation slowed more than economists forecast in May.

ECB President Mario Draghi has signaled he will act to prevent deflation in the 18-nation bloc. Of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg, 44 predict the ECB will become the first major central bank to take interest rates negative by cutting its deposit rate. All but two of 58 respondents said the benchmark rate would also be reduced.

Anemic growth in the euro zone has added to the case for ECB stimulus, as policy makers continue to struggle with the legacy of the debt crisis. Euro-area GDP growth probably held at 0.9 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the median of 28 economists’ estimated compiled by Bloomberg before today’s report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 0.1 per cent after three straight days of gains. A Commerce Department report showed factory orders climbed 0.7 per cent in April, after economists estimated a rise of 0.5 per cent. Today’s ADP National Employment report is expected to show an increase of 210,000 workers for May after recording a gain of 220,000 in April, a Bloomberg survey of economists shows.

Oil stockpiles

Analysts predict government data June 6 will show nonfarm payrolls expanded by 215,000 people in May, after jumping by 288,000 in April, the biggest upside surprise since February 2012.

West Texas Intermediate oil climbed to US$102.89 a barrel. Overall US oil inventories dropped by 1.4 million barrels last week, while supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma ― the delivery point for WTI futures ― slipped by 300,000, according to the American Petroleum Institute, an industry body.

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimate government data due later today will show that stockpiles at Cushing fell for the 17th time in 18 weeks in the week ended May 30.

Copper futures on New York’s Comex added 0.1 per cent to US$3.140 a pound after the metal slid 0.9 per cent in London, and gold was little changed at US$1,245.51 an ounce on the spot market after rising 0.1 per cent yesterday.

Arabica coffee futures entered a bear market in the US, trading 22 per cent below a two-year high reached in April, as rain eased damage from drought in Brazil, the world’s top producer and exporter of coffee. ― Bloomberg