Without relevant macro data to trade on, no advances in negotiations to reopen the US government, nor any new developments in France, markets traded cautiously during yesterday's session. Euro area sovereign yields ended mostly flat while US Treasury yields edged lower, and stocks retreated globally. The euro weakened to 1.16 against the dollar.
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Markets ended the week in a mixed mood (stocks declined, safe-haven currencies rose) as investors closed positions ahead of low trading in August. The publication of the Financial Markets Daily Report will stop for a few weeks, but we will be keeping an eye on markets and be back by the end of August. We wish our readers a great summer break.
On Friday, stock markets edged up in the U.S. and were mixed in the euro area (advancing in the periphery and nudging down in the core).
In the US, the latest revision of Q2 GDP growth confirmed the economy is expanding at a stronger pace driven by resilient personal consumption and solid private investment. Investors pared back expectations for future Fed rate cuts to four by the end of 2026. This shift pushed Treasury yields higher.
Yesterday, stock markets rallied around the world while 10-year sovereign yields remained stable in the U.S. and declined in the Euro Area (particularly so in the periphery countries).
Investors extended their risk apetite amid positive global manufacturing PMI releases. In August, factory activity remained strong in most economies, but several surveys continued to signal disrupted supply chains and labour shortages as the main risks. In the U.S., the input price index fell from 85.7 points towards 79.4.
On Friday, the Japanese yen strengthened sharply after the Bank of Japan left its policy rate at 0.75% and signaled a hawkish stance. Speculation around potential currency intervention intensified after New York Fed officials reportedly sought information on the yen’s exchange rate, and Prime Minister Takaichi warned of action against “abnormal” market moves.
Investors traded cautiously on Wednesday, digesting the December inflation print in the US, which showed headline inflation rising to 7.0%, highest since June 1982, and core inflation increasing by 0.6 pp to 5.5% yoy. Even if in line with consensus expectations, these figures add pressure to the Fed to start hiking interest rates as soon as in March.
U.S. equity markets reached new highs, led by technology, as sovereign yields declined after producer prices fell more than expected in August (-0.1% m/m), driven by lower services prices. The data reinforced market expectations of a Fed rate cut next week. In Europe, major indices closed mixed, with the notable gains in the IBEX-35 and the defense sector.
With investor focus on the tech sector, equity markets moved lower during the session. US stock indices posted modest losses, with tech stocks under pressure as investors continued to digest Q4 earnings results. European indices were weighed by losses in business software companies amid concerns over the potential disruptive impact of AI on their business models.
European sovereign yields edged up on the back of upbeat comments from the ECB's Chief Economist Peter Praet, which gave investors greater confidence in the ECB's intentions to gradually wind down net asset purchases in the coming months.
Stock markets were mixed in yesterday's session, with further gains in the U.S. and small declines in the Euro Area. In fixed-income markets, sovereign yields were stable ahead of the central bank policy meetings later this week.
Initial optimism over the EU-U.S. trade deal, which had boosted European stocks early in the trading session, soon faded and the region's main indices closed lower with losses led by German stocks (-1%). U.S. stocks had a choppy session and ended mostly flat, while large-cap tech stocks edged higher. The euro slipped to just below $1.16, its lowest in over a month
Euro area investor sentiment recovered following the EU-US trade deal, sending stocks higher across the region. In the US, investors traded in a risk-off mood on news that, after two days of negotiations in Stockholm, Chinese and US officials failed to deliver a trade deal and agreed only to seek an extension of the 90-day tariff truce. Stocks fell, and Treasuries rallied.
Yesterday session was risk-on, with global stocks advancing, led by Japan, where the Nikkei-225 registered gains of nearly 4% after the Liberal Democratic Party obtained the supermajority in the Lower House elections, allowing prime minister Sanae Takaichi to continue pursuing expansionary fiscal policies.
In the last session of the week, equity markets edged modestly higher, despite lingering doubts over the return on Big Tech investment in AI and questions around the robustness of corporate fundamentals, set against a backdrop of generally supportive macroeconomic data.
Investors closed the week with a cautious mood amid mixed economic data releases in the U.S. and dovish comments from ECB officials. In particular, the Finnish and Lithuanian central banks' chiefs insisted that the current inflation is transitory, although it may last longer than initially expected.
Global stock markets performed positively yesterday with modest increases in the S&P 500 and in the main European indices, except for the Portuguese and the French indices that closed with moderate losses.
In yesterday's session, the economic impact of the omicron variant together with investors' expectation for central banks were the main drivers in financial markets.
The ECB announced the phasing out of quantitative easing with net purchases diminishing from 30 to 15 billion euros in the last quarter of the year and ceasing in December.