Risk aversion continued to dominate in yesterday's session, with the key themes remaining the COVID situation in China and hawkish comments by central bank officials. In the euro area, both Christine Lagarde and Joachim Nagel said that inflation will remain elevated and might not have peaked yet, justifying a tighter monetary policy stance.
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Investors traded cautiously in yesterday's session amid lower-than-expected inflation data in some euro area countries. In particular, November HICP year-on-year inflation decreased 0.3pp and 0.7pp in Germany and Spain to 11.3% and 6.6%, respectively.
A speech by the president of the Federal Reserve, reinforcing the expectation that the central bank will hike rates by 50bp in December, centered the stage in yesterday’s session. In the euro area, headline inflation decreased in November from 10.6% to 10.0% y/y while the core measure remained unchanged at 5.0%.
Ahead of today's key CPI data release in the US, which is expected to show a deceleration in inflation, investors traded cautiously. Yields on 10-year sovereign bonds edged modestly up in the euro area while increasing more notably in the US.
Investors started the year trading with a risk-on mode, taking on board data showing receding inflationary pressures in Europe, a slowdown in economic growth in the US and a further decline in energy prices across the globe. As a result, investors revised down modestly their expectations for future policy interest rate hikes.
In the last session of the week, investors continued to trade with a risk-on mode, taking on board the fall in HICP inflation in the eurozone (9.2% in December after 10.1%) and the US employment report for December. On balance, the data suggested central banks will continue hiking policy interest rates but likely at a reduced pace.
Financial markets started the week trading with no clear direction, swinging between modest gains and losses across equity markets in Europe and Asia, during a session characterized by low volumes due to a national holiday in the US.
In the last session of the week, yields on sovereign bonds rose markedly, particularly so in the euro area, and stock indices advanced across the board. The surprise in the PPI m/m inflation in Germany (-0.4% vs consensus -1.2%) and the hawkish comments from ECB GC member Holzmann contributed to the increase in yields.
Investors started the week trading with a risk-on mood, taking position ahead of corporate earnings and key economic data to be released this week. Today, the focus will be on the flash PMIs for January, which are expected to edge modestly up in the euro area and in the US, despite remaining below the 50-point expansionary threshold.
In yesterday's session, investors weighed mixed corporate earnings results with better-than-expected flash January PMIs. In particular, the composite indices for the euro area and the US edged up from 49.3 and 45.0 to 50.2 and 46.6, respectively. Both sectors, services and manufacturing, registered an improvement from the previous month.
Yesterday investors continued to digest the messages from central bank officials, who, in general, have toughened the stance against inflation and show a more hawkish tone. In this context, yields on sovereign bonds rose further in the eurozone, more notably in the periphery, while remaining broadly unchanged in the US.
Central bank communication remained at the center stage yesterday, as Fed and ECB officials reiterated that monetary policy would need to be restrictive for a while. In the eurozone, GC member Klaas Knot, said the ECB should only decrease the pace of rate hikes once it sees underlying inflation abating, pointing to a 50bp hike in May.
Investors started the week with no clear direction, with all eyes focusing on the release of the January CPI inflation print in the US today, where the consensus (according to Bloomberg) expects headline inflation to ease to 6.2% y/y (from 6.5% in December). The second release of Q4 GDP in the eurozone is also published today.
On Tuesday, the better-than-expected release of February PMIs fueled an increase in investors’ expectations for the path of official interest rates, which, in turn, pushed sovereign bond yields up in the euro area and in the US.
Investors traded cautiously in yesterday’s session following revisions of some key economic indicators. In the euro area, headline and core inflation for January were revised by +0.1pp to 8.6% and 5.3%, respectively, and, in the US, 4Q GDP growth was revised by –0.2pp to 2.7% q/q SAAR, mainly due to a softer private consumption.
Stock markets rebounded at the start of the week, as investors digested a new batch of mixed economic indicators and took advantage of attractive valuations, following the sharp decline in stock indices in recent weeks. Sovereign bond yields ticked down in the US and continued to edge higher across Europe.
Inflationary pressures and monetary policy actions remained the focus on Wednesday, following higher-than-expected HICP data in Germany (headline inflation rose to 9.3% y/y in February after 9.2% in January), ahead of the release of the data for the eurozone aggregate this morning. The ECB also releases the accounts of the last meeting.
Precaution and volatility continued to set the tone across financial markets on Thursday. Eurozone HICP inflation surprised on the upside (headline: 8.5% y/y in February after 8.6%; core: 5.6% after 5.3%) while, in the US, data showed unit labour cost accelerated in Q4 and new weekly jobless claims fell further last week.
Economic data releases on Friday boosted investors' sentiment and allowed sovereign yields to edge down and equities to advance. Price pressures continue to moderate but remain elevated, according to the ISM prices paid index in the US (which fell from 67.8 to 65.6) and the PPI in the euro area (which declined from 24.5% to 15.0% y/y).
Concerns about the health of the banking sector and the potential implications for the trajectory of monetary policy remained the key themes during a volatile session on Monday. Money markets showed a notable correction in expectations for terminal policy rates in both the US (5% in May) and the eurozone (3% in September).