US equity-index futures were steady on Friday and Treasuries gained, capping a tumultuous week for global markets amid lingering concern that the financial turmoil which has roiled bonds and stocks is not over.
(Bloomberg) — US equity-index futures were steady on Friday and Treasuries gained, capping a tumultuous week for global markets amid lingering concern that the financial turmoil which has roiled bonds and stocks is not over.
Contracts on the S&P 500 edged higher after the index rallied 1.8% yesterday as larger banks threw a lifeline to First Republic Bank, the latest US lender to signal stress. That didn’t stop shares in First Republic from sliding in pre-market trading, however. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 were flat as the rates-sensitive gauge heads for its best week since November amid expectations the Federal Reserve will temper its tightening path. The 10-year Treasury yield dipped and a gauge of the dollar declined.
Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. banded together in a show of support for First Republic on Thursday. While the rescue attempt helped boost sentiment, billionaire investor Bill Ackman was among those questioning whether it would be enough to halt the crisis. Meanwhile, US banks borrowed a combined $164.8 billion from two Federal Reserve backstop facilities in the most recent week, a sign of escalated funding strains in the aftermath of Silicon Valley Bank’s failure.
“We do not expect a full-blown financial crisis, but one must not dismiss the underlying dynamics,” said Karsten Junius, the chief economist at Bank J Safra Sarasin AG. “Financial conditions will most likely tighten further and increase recession risks. We therefore advocate a defensive positioning with regard to risk assets and a tactically cautious stance on the banking sector, even though the constructive case for banks remains intact over the medium to longer term.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced about 1%. An index of European banking stocks climbed, but is still down more than 7% this week even after the Swiss central bank’s support for Credit Suisse Group AG. Shares in the troubled Swiss lender were steady on Friday as the idea of a forced combination with a larger rival, UBS Group AG, was shot down. Bonds across Europe gained, with Germany’s 10-year yield down four basis points.
Markets were also digesting a 50 basis points rate hike by the European Central Bank and comments from the ECB president that inflation is projected to remain too high for too long. The ECB rate hike added to bets the Federal Reserve will also raise next week.
Indexes rose in Hong Kong, Japan and Australia amid a rebound in banking shares. Even so, an Asia equity gauge was set for a second weekly loss after the recent turbulence in the banking sector.
Friday’s quarterly triple witching, where contracts for index futures, equity index options and stock options all expire, could amp up swings in trading.
BlackRock Investment Institute does not expect cracks in the financial sector to deter central banks from raising rates further to contain inflation. It expects both the ECB and the Fed to “go as far as possible to distinguish their inflation fighting campaigns from measures to deal with bank troubles and safeguard the financial system,” a team of BlackRock analysts wrote in a note.
In China, traders were able to access widely used bond price feeds again after an abrupt suspension of the data earlier in the week roiled the $21 trillion market.
Bitcoin rose to near the highest level since June amid a broad rally in cryptocurrencies. Other tokens such as Ether, Solana and Polkadot surged as well.
Elsewhere, oil advanced but was still headed for the worst week so far this year. Gold rose.
These are the main market moves:
Stocks
- The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.9% as of 8:50 a.m. London time
- S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%
- Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%
- The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.4%
- The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.4%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
- The euro rose 0.4% to $1.0657
- The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 133.13 per dollar
- The offshore yuan rose 0.3% to 6.8769 per dollar
- The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.2144
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 5.3% to $26,061.95
- Ether rose 3.4% to $1,715.71
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 3.54%
- Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.27%
- Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 3.40%
Commodities
- Brent crude rose 1% to $75.41 a barrel
- Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,929.70 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Carly Wanna and Angel Adegbesan.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.