European stocks fell, led by banks, as investors assessed key rates decisions in the region. US equity futures climbed, signaling a recovery following a tumultuous day of losses on Wall Street Wednesday.
(Bloomberg) — European stocks fell, led by banks, as investors assessed key rates decisions in the region. US equity futures climbed, signaling a recovery following a tumultuous day of losses on Wall Street Wednesday.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.6% before a policy announcement from the Bank of England. The Swiss and Norwegian central banks both raised rates Thursday, as forecast, and flagged more hikes to come. Banking stocks were the biggest laggards, following weakness in their US peers. Contracts on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 advanced at least 0.6%.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers that the government wasn’t considering “blanket” deposit insurance to stabilize the US banking system, sending stocks in the sector rapidly lower. At around the same time, following the Federal Reserve’s expected 25-basis-point hike, Chair Jerome Powell was pushing back against bets for rate cuts this year and said he was prepared to keep raising borrowing costs until inflation showed signs of cooling.
Weakness in the dollar extended to a sixth day, the longest losing streak since April 2021, with the greenback lower against all of its Group-of-10 currency counterparts. The Swiss franc and Norwegian krone strengthened after the rates decisions. Treasury yields ticked higher.
While markets are in a “higher volatility regime” these days amid uncertainly over the outlook for rates and economic growth, a degree of moderation is possible Thursday, according to John Bromhead, a strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group. “I suspect now the major risk event is out of the way, risk-tone can improve through the day,” he said.
The swap market shows investors are split on the chances that Fed officials will add another 25 basis points to their benchmark in May. Despite Powell’s guidance, expectations for cuts have deepened, with the market suggesting that the effective fed funds rate will drop to around 4.1% in December.
“I would not expect the market to take these rate cuts out in the near term and could very well price in more cuts if the data deteriorates from here,” Matthew Hornbach, global head of macro strategy at Morgan Stanley, told Bloomberg Television.
Powell himself, though, said in response to questioning that officials “just don’t” see cuts this year and that they will raise higher than expected if that is needed. “Rate cuts are not in our base case,” he said.
In Asian trading, an index of the region’s shares rose more than 1% as gauges in Hong Kong and mainland China rallied. Elsewhere in markets, oil fell as investors weighed the developments at the Fed and digested a mixed snapshot of US supply and demand. Gold and Bitcoin rose.
Separately, investors were on tenterhooks awaiting another report from Hindenburg Research, the US short seller that targeted Gautam Adani’s group earlier this year. There were no details on the subject of the new report.
Key events this week:
- Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
- BOE interest rate decision, Thursday
- Swiss National Bank rate decision and press conference, Thursday
- US new home sales, initial jobless claims, Thursday
- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testifies to a House Appropriations subcommittee, Thursday
- Eurozone S&P Global Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, S&P Global Eurozone Services PMI, Friday
- US durable goods, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.5% as of 9:13 a.m. London time
- S&P 500 futures rose 0.6%
- Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1%
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%
- The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.3%
- The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.6%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
- The euro rose 0.4% to $1.0899
- The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 131.11 per dollar
- The offshore yuan rose 0.5% to 6.8236 per dollar
- The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2332
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 1.1% to $27,704.88
- Ether rose 1.1% to $1,756.07
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 3.48%
- Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 2.28%
- Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.45%
Commodities
- Brent crude fell 0.3% to $76.46 a barrel
- Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,977.39 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Matthew Burgess and Georgina Mckay.
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