Chinese stocks steady, helping to shore up global markets

“Valuations have been on the higher side…so it leaves us in a bit of a precarious position”, Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at US Bank Wealth Management, said.

Global shares retreated for a fifth day, poised for their biggest weekly decline since September 2011, as oil hovered around $33 a barrel.

Amid suspicions by some in the market that China wants the yuan to devalue in order to boost its ailing exporters, sources suggested there were moves afoot for China’s cabinet to take a bigger role in overseeing financial markets.

Chinese stocks tumbled, extending the world’s worst sell-off this year, amid waning investor confidence in the government’s efforts to revive the economy and stabilize financial markets.

U.S. payroll growth surged in December, capping the second-best year for American workers since 1999.

“Chinese inflation data over the weekend may have ticked up for consumers but with producer prices still down nearly 6% annually, the outlook remains dire for the raw materials space”, said Michael van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.

“The moves in oil and the rest of the commodities have been so extreme that producing companies and countries are feeling the heat”, Andy Pfaff, the chief investment officer for commodities at MitonOptimal Group, said by phone from Cape Town.

USA stocks began the week on the front foot, shrugging off the latest sharp decline in Asia, where fresh concerns over a slowdown in China triggered a selloff.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 managed to stabilize on Monday after three straight days of one-percent-plus declines, ending the day up 0.1 percent. Investors typically sell the first rally after a big selloff, because it’s the first chance they can get out on an uptick. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 200,000 advance.

In Europe, markets switched frequently between gains and losses. The gauge is down 6.7 percent for the week, the worst performance since August 2011.

Earlier on Monday, the People’s Bank of China guided the yuan higher, setting the mid-point fix at 6.5626 against the dollar. The onshore yuan fell 0.07 percent. Freeport-McMoRan, up 4.4 percent, and Transocean, up 3.4 percent, led the premarket gainers on the S&P.

After US markets closed, aluminium maker Alcoa unofficially kicked off the fourth quarter earnings season as it swung to a loss.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.8 percent to trade at 6.3 times trailing earnings, the cheapest level in 14 years. British companies in particular posted strong seasonal updates, lifting the FTSEuroFirst 300 up from a three-month low. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2 percent, while the CAC-40 in France lost 0.4 percent. U.S. crude was down about 2.3% to $32.39. Britain’s pound fell against all its major counterparts after data showed United Kingdom industrial production unexpectedly contracted in November.

U.S. Treasury yields inched higher in volatile trading.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Monday, with the most active gold contract for February delivery going down 1.7 dollars, or 0.15 percent, to settle at 1,096.20 dollars per ounce.

Apple was up 1.9 percent at $100.30.

Traditional haven assets lost a bit of ground Tuesday.