Financial Markets Daily Report31 March 2023
Equity markets extended a rally across the globe on Thursday, as investors continued to switch their focus away from the stress in the banking sector and instead pondered about the likely path of monetary policy decisions ahead.
- Equity markets extended a rally across the globe on Thursday, as investors continued to switch their focus away from the stress in the banking sector and instead pondered about the likely path of monetary policy decisions ahead.
- On the data front, HICP inflation in Germany fell less than expected (–1.6pp to 7.8% y/y in March), offsetting the downside surprise in the Spanish print (–2.9pp to 3.1%) and ahead of the release of the eurozone this morning. In the US, new jobless claims ticked up last week while Q4 GDP was revised down (–0.1pp to 2.6% SAAR).
- In this context, sovereign bond yields edged up across Europe, as investors scaled up their expectations for the terminal policy rate (3.55%, according to money markets). The EUR also appreciated against peers, trading above 1.09 against the USD, while oil prices went up amid production disruptions in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
- Data released today showed the (official) composite PMI in China rising from 56.4 in February to 57.0 in March.