London (AFP) – Stocks steadied Tuesday following the previous day’s stutter, as weak data reinforced optimism for US interest rate cuts and tempered concerns over rising Japanese bond yields. Expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower borrowing costs have buoyed markets in recent weeks, helping them recover early November’s losses driven by tech bubble fears. Wall Street’s main stock indices were mostly higher in late morning trading, but had lost much of their early gains.
“The early buying interest reflects more of the back-and-forth action of a market playing the seasonality game while remaining cognizant of stretched valuations and concentration risk,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. He added investors were keeping an eye on the US Treasuries market, a day after a jump in yields on US government bonds contributed to losses in the stock market. Bets on the US central bank easing monetary policy next week for a third successive meeting have been rising since several Fed decision-makers flagged concerns over labour market weakness. Those comments have been compounded by figures showing the economy continues to soften while inflation appears to have stabilised for now.
Investors are awaiting Wednesday’s monthly report on private-sector jobs, followed by the inflation figures for September on Friday. However, the rise in yields on long-term US Treasuries was an indication that investors see inflation picking up in the future. “Collectively, the Fed seems certain that inflation, while still high, has peaked,” said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison. “The market appears to disagree.”
Major European markets ended mixed. “European stock markets were hampered by euro area inflation unexpectedly edging higher,” said IG trading platform analyst Axel Rudolph. Official data on Tuesday showed eurozone inflation edged up to 2.2 percent in November, veering slightly away from the European Central Bank’s two-percent target. The ECB will announce its rate decision on December 18. The data “comes at a time where some had claimed we could yet see another cut from the ECB, although the likeliness is that their easing cycle is over,” said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
Across Asia, most markets closed higher Tuesday. Tokyo was flat after erasing early gains, following Monday’s losses triggered by Bank of Japan boss Kazuo Ueda hinting at a possible interest rate hike this month. His remarks lifted the yen and provided a jolt to equities as the yield of Japanese two-year government bonds rose past one percent to their highest since 2008 during the global financial crisis. Ueda’s hint also weighed on Wall Street as his comments “could mark a de-anchoring of the carry trade, in which traders borrow yen at low cost to invest in riskier assets,” wrote City Index senior market analyst Fiona Cincotta. “A higher rate in Japan could suck liquidity out of the markets. Tech stocks and crypto are particularly sensitive to even the smallest shifts in liquidity.”
South Korean tech titan Samsung Electronics jumped more than two percent in Seoul as it launched its first triple-folding phone, even as its price tag over $2,400 places it out of reach for the average customer. Oil prices dipped ahead of talks between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the Trump administration’s controversial proposal to end the war in Ukraine.
– Key figures at around 1630 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 47,368.66 points
New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 6,809.64
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 23,304.15
London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 9,701.80 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,074.61 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 23,710.86 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: FLAT at 49,303.45 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 26,095.05 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,897.71 (close)
Dollar/yen: UP at 155.77 yen from 155.50 yen on Monday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1609 from $1.1608
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3195 from $1.3211
Euro/pound: UP at 87.99 pence from 87.87 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $59.05 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $62.88 per barrel
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© 2024 AFP
