In yesterday’s session, investors traded cautiously focusing their attention on the corporate earnings season and being attentive to the monetary policy path ahead and to the geopolitical risks. In this context, yields on sovereign bonds surged in advanced economies, with the 10-treasury getting closer to 5%.
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Volatility rose during the last session of the week amid heightened tensions in the Middle East, mixed corporate earnings, and expectations of the FOMC meeting later this week. Stocks fell across the globe, with US and European stock indices entering “correction” territory after falling 10% their most recent peak in July.
In yesterday's session, expectations on monetary policy continued to center the stage in financial markets. In particular, Jerome Powell expressed, in similar words than at the last FOMC meeting, that official interest rates can be hiked again if needed and warned that a few months of good economic data should not mislead Fed members.
Financial markets rallied globally following lower-than-expected US consumer prices. October CPI was unchanged m/m from September (vs. 0.1% expected) and rose 3.2% y/y (vs. 3.3% expected), down from September’s 3.7%. The market now expects the Fed to cut rates in May, ahead of June as was priced before the release of inflation data.
Yesterday markets took a pause following Tuesday’s strong rally. Investors continue to price in the end of the interest rate hiking cycle while still digesting new economic data. US October retail sales slowed in October by less than expected (-0.1% m/m vs. -0.3%), suggesting some resiliency in consumption and reinforcing the idea of a soft-landing.
In yesterday's session sovereign bonds took center stage once again. Yields extended their declines both in the euro area and in the US, where higher-than-expected weekly jobless claims pointed to a cooling labor market and gave investors further reasons to believe the Federal Reserve is done hiking rates.
In the last session of the week, investors continued to digest the patient approach for the monetary policy ahead expressed by ECB and US Federal Reserve officials. For example, San Francisco Fed President Mary C. Daly said that the Fed could take its time to do things right, signaling that no further rate hikes are in sight for the moment.
The week started in a subdued mood in financial markets, with investors still assessing the implications of the patient approach of central banks on monetary policy. Yesterday, ECB member de Cos followed previous comments from Wunsch and Holzmann and said that it is premature to talk about interest rate cuts.
Investors continued to trade cautiously yesterday amid messages from central banks signaling the end of the interest rates hiking cycle. Nevertheless, Christine Lagarde said that more evidence is needed to be sure that inflation returns sustainably to the 2% target.
Investors started the week on a downbeat note, with sovereign bond yields falling across the board on both sides of the Atlantic, as expectations grew that major central banks may be done with interest rate hikes. In the Eurozone, however, Lagarde stressed that strong wage growth does not yet allow the ECB to declare victory over inflation.
In Tuesday’s session, investors continued to focus on the narrative that US growth is slowing and that the next move by major central banks will be to cut interest rates at some point next year. This extended the market’s risk-on sentiment of recent weeks, with government bond yields falling across the board and major equity indices rising.
Government bond yields extended their losses across the board on Wednesday as investors continued to focus on future interest rate cuts by major central banks. These expectations were boosted by upwardly revised Q3 US GDP growth figures and better-than-expected November inflation figures in Germany and Spain.
Euro area and US sovereign bond yields continued to fall during Friday's session as investors continue to expect interest rate cuts by mid-2024. Speaking last Friday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell remarked that policy is "well into restrictive territoy" further fueling the rally in bond markets.
Markets took a pause after last week’s rally which brought the main stock indices to post their best monthly advance in years, and sovereign bond yields their largest monthly cuts in two years. Investors have now turned cautious ahead of this week’s US employment data while still pricing in the likelihood of interest rate cuts as soon as March 2024.
Investors started the week on a subdued note as they await key central bank meetings and data releases this week. Sovereign bond yields were little changed ahead of today's US CPI report. Yesterday, the NY Fed's 1-year inflation expectations index for November extended its decline to 3.4% showing the impact of interest rate hikes.
US November CPI report came mostly in line with expectations: prices grew 0.1% MoM (vs. 0.0% expected) and 3.1% YoY (as expected) down from 3.2% in October, reinforcing the view the Fed will leave rates unchanged at its meeting today. The lack of surprises left markets rather muted, with treasury yields flat and stock indices slightly advancing.
Yesterday’s FOMC meeting boosted investor sentiment as the Fed sent a strong signal that the hiking cycle is over and that its members expect at least two rate cuts in 2024 (according to the median of the Dot-plot projections). This caused government bond yields to fall across the board, especially US Treasuries.
The ECB's caution regarding a pivot in its hiking cycle weighed on investors in yesterday's session. Lagarde's press conference appeared hawkish in contrast to Powell's and the Fed's dot plot on Wednesday, which cooled market expectations for rate cuts in 2024 in both sides of the Atlantic.
In the last session of the week, investors focused their attention on the ECB and Fed officials’ speeches, which tried to push back against the expectation for early interest rate cuts.
In yesterday's session, investors traded without major economic references, beyond the Germany IFO which confirmed weakness in business sentiment, and amid continuing comments from central bank officials trying to push back against the expectation of the first interest rate hike (e.g.: ECB's Stournaras and Fed's Mester).