Evolution of the international financial markets and evaluation of the main events and economic indicators of the previous day session. Available in English.
Treasury yields fell as Federal Reserve Chairman Powell testified before Congress that rising inflation is likely to be transitory and that the central bank would continue to support the economy. The Bank of Japan left its 10-year bond yield target unchanged at about 0% after concluding its meeting and also kept the policy-balance rate at -0.1%.
Jerome Powell maintained his view that strong inflation will be temporary and said that the US economy was still far from levels the central bank wanted to see before tapering its monetary support.
Investors turned their attention to the start of second-quarter earnings season and to inflation concerns in the US, after the consumer price index jumped to 5.4% yoy in June (4.5% yoy the core index). This level is the higher seen since 2008 and fuels speculation that the Federal Reserve will begin curbing asset purchases soon.
The S&P 500 Index closed at another record high as investors looked to a highly anticipated second-quarter earnings season, which will start today with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and PepsiCo Inc. European equities hit a record high with investors rotating out of cyclical sectors and into more defensive.
In the last session of the week, investors' sentiment improved and markets ended the day with positive results.
In a volatile session, investors’ sentiment was clouded by disappointing labour data in the US (new jobless claims unexpectedly rose to 373k during the first week of July) and uncertainty about the evolution of the pandemic. In Europe, the ECB confirmed a decision to modify its inflation target to a symmetric 2%.
Investors traded with a positive mood on Wednesday, easing concerns about a rapid withdrawal of monetary accommodation by the major central banks.
Financial markets ended the day with negative results, following the release of disappointing survey sentiment data in both the US (the services ISM fell to 60.1 in June from 64.0 in May) and in Germany (the ZEW sentiment indicator dropped from 79.8 to 63.3). In addition, industrial orders in Germany plummeted in May (-4% m/m).
During a session with low trading volumes (markets were closed in the US), investors recorded modest gains, fuelled by positive sentiment data across Europe (the service PMI was revised up by 0.3 points to 58.3 in June, the highest level since July 2007).
Investors ended the week on a positive note, following the release of solid labour market data in the US: non-farm payrolls rose by 850K in June while the unemployment rate remained broadly stable at 5.9%. As a result, equity indices rose in both sides of the Atlantic, reaching new records in the US.
Investors’ morale improved again on the back of solid economic data reports. June PMI and ISM data in the euro area and in the US reflected that economic growth is gaining momentum and most manufacturing indices remained above the 60 points (EZ at 63.4, US ISM at 60.6, Spain’s at 60.4, +1 pp from the previous month).