Evolution of the international financial markets and evaluation of the main events and economic indicators of the previous day session. Available in English.
During a volatile session, markets erased some of the early gains after comments by Fed VP Richard Clarida noting that the central bank could start discussing in upcoming meetings adjusting the pace of asset purchases (tapering). In addition, house prices in the U.S. continued to accelerate while consumer confidence stalled.
Investors traded with a risk-on mood at the start of the week, reversing some of the losses of the previous sessions. In the U.S., tech stocks led the equity markets rebound, following comments by Fed officials, including governor Lael Brainard, reiterating that they see the spike in inflation as transitory.
In yesterday's session, investors traded with a risk-on mood and drew away from safe-haven assets as new weekly jobless claims in the US posted the smallest figure since the start of a pandemic (444k).
Yesterday, investors traded in a risk-off session in which stock indices declined across the board, core euro area sovereign yields ticked down and the US dollar strengthened against most currencies.
In yesterday's session, investors weighed the reopening of economies against inflationary pressures concerns. On the latter, nevertheless, ECB's Villeroy de Galhau said that the inflation spike in the euro area is likely to be temporary and that the monetary policy stance will remain very accommodative for a long time.
Rising COVID-19 cases in some regions and inflation concerns, particularly in the US, were yesterday's main drivers in financial markets. Fed Governor Richard Clarida, though, eased fears of an early monetary policy tightening as he said that April's disappointing employment report showed that further substantial progress has not been made yet.
Investors ended the week on a positive mood. In stock markets, volatility declined and equities surged across advanced and emerging economies on Friday, partially reversing the losses suffered in previous sessions. In FX markets, most advanced and emerging currencies also recovered some ground against the USD.
Investor sentiment steadied in yesterday's session and markets halted a string of volatile sessions this week. U.S. stocks rebounded and European equities continued to advance. Earlier, Asian stocks had closed lower, dragged by the previous days' jump in volatility.
Yesterday, volatility rose amid investor inflation worries. U.S. CPI inflation jumped in April to +4.2% yoy (headline index, +1.6pp) and 3.0% (core index, +1.4pp). Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida reiterated the central bank's view that the inflation rebound is largely transitory as it is mostly driven by base effects and short-term supply bottlenecks.
Volatility rose and stocks sold off as investors focused on the outlook for supply shortages and inflation. Stock market losses were widespread across sectors and countries while commodity prices advanced, the USD weakened, and U.S. sovereign yields nudged up.