Overview: The optimism among investors appears to have evaporated in the face of new US-Chinese tensions, possible delays in the next US fiscal stimulus, and new record virus infections in Australia and Hong Kong. US stocks had pared early gains yesterday, and the high-flying NASDAQ finished lower after setting new record highs. Hong Kong (-2.25%) and …
Overview: The S&P 500’s longest advance this year was stopped seemingly as concern that the flare-up in the virus will slow the recovery. The sell-off in airlines and hotels helped spur a broader bout of profit-taking. Most Asia Pacific bourses advanced, led by the continued rally in Hong Kong and China. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx …
Overview: A new daily high number of contagions globally has been reported, but the risk-appetites have been stoked. Chinese stocks have been on a tear. The Shanghai Composite rallied 5.7% today to bring the five-day advance to 13.6%. Most other regional markets, including Hong Kong, rallied as well (3.8%). Australia was the main exception, and it …
New Record Number of Covid Cases Doesn’t Curtail Appetite for Risk Read More »
Overview: The combination of rising virus cases and the sell-off in the US before the weekend dragged nearly all the Asia Pacific bourses lower. The Nikkei led the way with more than a 2% drop, but most bourses were off more than 1%. China and Taiwan were also greeted with selling as markets re-opened from …
Next week is important. Two G7 central banks meet and at least half a dozen emerging market central banks. There is a European Summit and perhaps a political effort to reinvigorate the UK-EU trade talks, which seem to be crashing on the shoals of stubbornness. The ECB offers its most generous long-term targeted loan that is …
Overview: The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose for a sixth consecutive session. Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesian markets advanced more than 1%. European bourses are mixed, with the peripheral shares doing better than the core, leaving the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 about 0.5% lower near midday after surging 2.5% ahead the weekend. US shares are firm, …
Sometimes it is easier to have a sense of what will not happen, rather than a view of what will happen. No Negative Rates in the US: Nearly every Federal Reserve official has argued against the deployment of negative interest rates in the US. It is also not completely clear that the same Congressional authorization …
Overview: The S&P 500 staged an impressive recovery yesterday, a sell-off that took it to its lowest level since April 21, to close more than 1% higher on the day, helped set the tone in the Far East and Europe today. Gains in most Asia Pacific markets, but Hong Kong, Shanghai, and India, trimmed this …
We have learned that China, the world’s second-largest economy contracted by nearly 10% in Q1. The US has lost in less than two months all the jobs gained in the record expansion. The central bank of Canada, the 10th largest economy, warned that its output could fall by 30% in the first half. Europe’s automakers’ association …
Overview: The recovery in equities stalled, and the risk-off mood has helped lift the US dollar, which had been trending lower. Taiwan and Malaysia were notable exceptions in the Asia Pacific regions to the heavier equity tone. The Nikkei gave back almost 0.5% after surging more than 3% on Tuesday. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 …