Investors closed the week trading cautiously under a volatile setting, still digesting political developments in the UK and signs of lingering inflationary pressures. In Europe, natural gas prices fell notably, following reports that Germany is likely to support a price cap to be included in the next EU package, to be agreed in coming weeks.
Resultados de la búsqueda
In yesterday's session, investors traded cautiously as they positioned for today's conclusion of the Federal Reserve meeting (where we expect Jerome Powell to announce the beginning of a reduction in the pace of net asset purchases) and tomorrow's Bank of England monetary policy meeting.
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.
Renewed appetite for risk extended across financial markets on Tuesday, as widespread fears over the health of the banking sector abated and investors instead looked ahead for the monetary policy announcements at the Federal Reserve today. ECB President Christine Lagarde is also due to make a speech this morning.
Investors started the week with a greater risk appetite than the previous one. Sovereign bond yields were mixed among regions and maturities while, in the money markets, yields fell on both sides of the Atlantic.
Investors kicked off the week with a higher risk appetite. In the euro area, the initial negative reaction to Trump's victory began to fade, with equity indices rising across the region and sovereign bond yields falling. Peripheral speads narrowed only slightly and Fitch upgraded Spain's debt outlook from "stable" to "positive", and affirmed its A- rating.
Market sentiment was dampened by weak investor confidence data in Germany (ZEW index dropped to 7.4 from 13.1 in the previous month), where also Chancellor Scholtz announced elections will be held in February after the ruling coalition collapsed last week. Sentiment was further dampened by caution ahead of today's inflation report in the US.
Investors continued to readjust their expectations about the future pace of monetary policy tightening, after data showed real GDP fell by 0.2% q/q in the US in Q2, the second consecutive quarterly decline.
In yesterday's session, investors traded cautiously despite easing concerns on the omicron variant. On the data front, the euro area economic sentiment indicator eased in November from 118.6 points to 117.5 and inflation numbers continued to increase in the region. Germany's HICP inflation rose 1.4pp to 6.0% while in Spain it rose 0.2pp to 5.6%.
Financial markets had a mixed session yesterday, although the overall mood among investors remained gloomy as they await today's U.S. inflation report for August, which is expected to show easing price pressures. Government bond yields fell across the board 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).
Financial markets started the week on a risk-off mood, as the Russian gas cut off worsened the European energy crisis and the region’s economic outlook.
In an eventful session, investors traded with a risk-on mood and stock indices rose in the U.S. and in most euro area trading floors. In fixed-income markets, sovereign yields edged up in both sides of the Atlantic, specially so in Italy, where Mario Draghi presented the 2022 fiscal budget with some tax cuts and an increase in the retirement age.
On Friday, the release of HICP inflation data in the euro area centered the stage in financial markets. Headline inflation fell sharply from 8.5% to 6.9% y/y in March, but core inflation ticked up to 7.5% in a sign that price pressures are persisting. In this context, ECB member Villeroy de Galhau said there are still some more rate hikes to do.
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.
Risk aversion continued to set the tone across markets on Thursday, following the imposition of lockdown measures in some big urban areas in China. In the US, new weekly jobless claims and the manufacturing ISM survey surprised positively, which, in turn, exacerbated fears among investors of more aggressive interest rate hikes.
In yesterday’s session, investors traded cautiously as they continued to assess the intensity and duration of the monetary policy tightening that central banks are likely to agree this week and in the coming months.
Investors continued trading with a risk-off mood, with sentiment gloomed by the deterioration of the COVID situation across Europe and mixed signals from economic sentiment data. Investors were also taking position ahead of the bank holiday in the US later this week.
Stronger-than-expected retail sales and industrial production data in the US renewed expectations of a soft-landing for the economy, just as the Fed is expected to lower interest rates today. Rate futures are reflecting a 65% probability of a 50 bp rate cut and a total of -116 bp over the remaining three meetings this year.
Financial markets ended the day with mixed results, as stronger-than-expected inflation data in both the U.S. and China reinforced investors’ fears about the persistency of the pickup in prices.