Investors' sentiment continued to deteriorate amid escalating trade tensions and Russia's initial refusal to agree to a truce in Ukraine. Equity markets ended lower, particularly in the US, and Treasury yields fell as investors increased their demand for safe-haven US government debt. Oil prices declined as markets weighed the risk that the tariff war could dampen global energy demand.
Resultats de la cerca
Investors kicked-off the week on a cautious note as they await the ECB's Governing Council meeting (on Thursday), widely expected to lower interest rates by 25bp, and US inflation figures for November (released on Wednesday), a key report for the Fed's decision next week.
In a session where the inflow of macroeconomic and sentiment data was abundant in the U.S. and in the euro area, investors read it, overall, in the downside.
In the last session of the week, stock indices declined across the globe and sovereign yields edged lower amid continuing concerns over trade tensions between the U.S. and China and better-than-expected U.S. retail sales.
Driven mainly by the trade tensions of the U.S. with China and, more recently, Mexico, stock indices in advanced economies declined, the price of gold rose and the Japanese Yen appreciated, in a canonical example of a risk-off session.
In yesterday's session, investors' sentiment improved amid optimistic comments from Russian officials, which increased the odds of a diplomatic solution, and following the description of the outlook from Jerome Powell, who said the US economy is very strong and with an extremely tight labor market.
Friday's session was driven by optimism, especially in the euro area, where Thursday evening geopolitical headlines (Trump cancelled the strikes that were planned on Iran and declared being close to a peace agreement) were put in price. This deal has been reached during the weekend, it will be signed on Friday and will imply the reopening of Strait of Hormuz.
Macroeconomic events and data releases shadowed latest developments of the Ukrainian war, as the ECB meeting and US CPI inflation centered stage in financial markets. On the latter, headline inflation rose as expected in February from 7.5% to 7.9% and core inflation rose from 6.0% to 6.4%.
Financial markets ended the week with an optimistic tone, on the back of better-than-expected employment creation in the U.S. and advances in trade negotiations between the U.S. and China.
In a session with a Triple witching hour in the U.S., an event that usually increases volume and volatility as several futures and options expire simultaneously, stock indices declined in the euro area and in the U.S. while sovereign yields edged moderately up on both sides of the Atlantic.
Financial markets ended the week on a positive tone, on the back of better-than-expected Q3 corporate results and economic data releases in the U.S. In particular, retail sales rose by 0.7% mom in September, well above the Bloomberg consensus (0.2% decline).
A strong US jobs report for January, with the unemployment rate falling 0.1 p.p. to 4.0% (the lowest since May) and wage growth accelerating to 4.1% yoy from 3.9% in December, reaffirmed expectations of a cautious Fed this year. Expectations for the next interest rate cut were delayed to July/September, and the probability of a second rate cut fell below 50%.
With no known progress on the peace negotiations in the Middle East, yesterday's session was driven by adjacent factors. Energy prices closed mixed as US Vice President JD Vance said neither side of the conflict wanted to take military action. Brent prices fell slightly to settle at USD 111/barrel while TTF prices rallied to close up 3%, at nearly EUR 52/MWh.
The Fed decided to keep rates steady in its first meeting with Kevin Warsh as chair, opening the possibility of future rate hikes later this year. Investor mood soured on the hawkish bias, with US treasury yields rising significantly, especially in the short term, after retail sales numbers in May showed a stronger-than-expected economy.
Financial markets started the week with a sell-off session in stock markets as energy prices rose sharply following threats from the US to restrict oil imports from Russia and Russia threats to cut gas flows to Europe. In addition, the euro area investor sentiment index Sentix declined to -7.0 in March, the lowest level since November 2020.
Markets remained on a risk-on mode on Tuesday, with expectations of an imminent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude prices dropped 5% for the second consecutive session, settling at $79/bbl, a minimum since early March. TTF natural gas fell by nearly 2%, closing the session just below EUR 42/MWh, while the EUR/USD remained stable around 1,16.
Financial markets extended the gains on Tuesday, with investors' sentiment boosted by dovish comments on inflation and monetary policy from some key Fed officials. As a result, stocks in the US fluctuated around record highs while the decline in US treasury yields stabilized. In Asia, equity indexes advanced further on Wednesday.
Investors ended the day with positive results, after strong sentiment data in Europe (Germany’s Ifo business climate index rose to the highest level in two years) and labour statistics in the US (new jobless claims fell to 411,000 weekly). In addition, President Biden announced a deal in the Senate on an infrastructure package worth USD 1.2 trillion.
Financial markets had a mixed performance on Wednesday. US Treasury yields were flat as the Fed kept rates unchanged and Powell said the Fed was in no rush to cut rates and will wait to see the impact of Trump's policies on the economy.
As no relevant news came from the conflict in the Middle East, yesterday's session still had volatile energy markets but no major drivers. Brent crude prices closed nearly flat at USD 80/bbl, while TTF natural gas prices continued to ease, closing the session just above EUR 40/MWh. Volatility decreased after Wednesday's sharp increase following the Fed's meeting.