8.8 C
New York
Thursday, March 28, 2024

World Stocks Hit Another All-Time High As Crude, Treasurys Drop

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

World stocks hit a new record high on Monday, as U.S. index futures followed Asian stocks on better-than-expected company earnings and strong US jobs data deflected attention from the rising geopolitical tension over




North Korea’s nuclear program. European stocks traded near session lows while Crude oil prices fall. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed ahead of speeches by the Fed’s James Bullard and Neel Kashkari later Monday. Yields on U.S. and German Bunds rose off one-month lows hit at the end of last week, while the yield on China’s 10-year sovereign bonds climbs 3 bps to a two-month high of 3.67%,  after Friday’s better-than-expected jobs data brightened investors’ outlook for the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones recorded its eighth consecutive record high on Friday, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan adding 0.5% on Monday. Helping global stocks hit record highs, of the nearly 1000 companies in the MSCI world index that have reported, 67% have beaten expectations, according to Reuters data. Of the MSCI Europe companies having reported, 61% have either met or beat expectations. But focusing on industrial firms – of which many depend on exports, and are sensitive to a stronger euro – the beat ratio is just 37%. Also the U.S. dollar dipped slightly but held on to much of Friday’s gains – its biggest daily rise this year – after data showed the United States created more jobs than forecast last month. As a result, the MSCI World index rose above a peak breached late last month, setting a new all-time high of 480.09 on Monday.

“The US made the most noise last week … At the start of the new week, risk sentiment improved in Asia with investors continuing to show a certain degree of risk affinity,” DZ Bank strategist Rene Albrecht said.

For some analysts, Monday’s pull back in the dollar backs some views in markets that Friday’s rally may not have legs. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global peers, inched back 0.2 percent to 93.361. It rallied 0.76 percent on Friday, its biggest one-day gain this year. The dollar slipped 0.2 percent against the euro to $1.1796 per euro, after surging 0.8 percent on Friday.

“The most logical view here is the moves on Friday were clearly just a sizeable covering of USD shorts, from what was one of the biggest net short positions held against the USD for many years,” Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG in Melbourne, wrote in a note. For the dollar rally to gain momentum, the market needs to change its interest rate pricing, Weston added.

Despite another drain in liquidity by the PBOC overnight. which soaked up another CNY60 billion in net reverse repos, Chinese industrial commodity metal soared, led by aluminum futures while steel rebar surged as much as 6.4% higher, before closing up 3.0% as iron ore closed up 6.5%.

#Steel rebar futures in #China closed 6.4% higher; #IronOre closed 3% higher after surging as much as 6.5% intraday pic.twitter.com/xbFTMQY6Ql

— YUAN TALKS (@YuanTalks) August 7, 2017

In the overnight FX session, kiwi slod 0.6% against greenback to 0.7368 while the euro rose as much as 0.2% to $1.1814, approaching its highest since early 2015, despite an unexpected drop in German industrial production in June. Output fell 1.1% in June after rising 1.2% in May, far below the estimated 0.2% increase and the first drop in six months. Production was up 2.4 percent from a year earlier. Still, with strong orders pointing to a likely pickup in manufacturing, the report is unlikely to mark a turning point for the German economy. Meanwhile, business confidence is at a record high and the Bundesbank sees growth continuing, even as momentum at the start of the third quarter lagged behind that of France, Italy and Spain for the first time in more than 12 years.

The common currency rebounded following a slump against the greenback in the wake of U.S. jobs data on Friday. With EUR-USD parity now long forgotten, the next “big thing” on FX traders’ minds is whether and when EUR-GBP parity may be achieved (with some penciling in the end of the year).

“I’m maxing on the euro at $1.20 at the moment, and I’m happy for it to be poodling along for a little while until something new and different comes long,” David Bloom, global head of currency strategy at HSBC said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “It could be tax reform in the U.S.”

As Bloomberg writes, “the euro’s continued resilience is a testament to growing investor confidence in the growth story of the European Union amid disappointment over U.S. President Donald Trump’s failure get tax reform and infrastructure spending plans off the ground.” Monday’s report from Germany is unlikely to mark a turning point for either the nation’s economy or the wider bloc, which has successfully navigated a series of political challenges while expansion accelerates.

Meanwhile, European stocks slumped near session lows after rising 1%  on Friday, the most since July 12, thanks to the drop in the Euro. The STOXX Europe 600 Price Index declined 0.3%, led by drop in IT, travel and real-estate shares, offsetting advances for ArcelorMittal, BHP Billiton Plc and Anglo American Plc after iron ore and steel prices climbed.  Travel and leisure shares fall 0.6%, tech retreats 0.5%’ Basic resources surged 1.1%. Germany’s DAX Index sank 0.2 percent.

Earlier, Japan’s Topix index ended at a two-year high, boosted by earnings at Toyota Motor Corp., while benchmarks in Australia, South Korea and Hong Kong also gained. Toyota jumped 2 percent after it beat first-quarter profit estimates and raised its full-year forecast on Friday. Australia’s ASX 200 (+0.9%) was led higher by commodity names after an early surge in Chinese Iron Ore futures, and as strong Australian Construction PMI (60.5 vs. Prey. 56.0) further contributed to the sector’s positivity. Nikkei 225 (+0.5%) was boosted by JPY weakness.  South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.1 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index added 0.5 percent to trade near to its highest since December 2007. The Japanese yen decreased 0.1 percent to 110.80 per dollar.

Aside from a slight weakening in the Korean won, there was little financial market reaction to the news over the weekend that the U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea aimed at pressuring Pyongyang to end its nuclear program. Late on Sunday, Donald Trump tweeted that South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed in a telephone call on Monday to apply maximum pressure and sanctions on North Korea, while China expressed hope that North and South Korea could resume contact soon.

West Texas Crude futures fell away from nine-week highs hit after the strong job data bolstered hopes for growing energy demand, and dropped below $49 a barrel as producers gathered in Abu Dhabi to discuss why some of them are falling behind in pledges to reduce output.  Gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,257.80 an ounce, the weakest in a week.  Copper declined less than 0.05 percent to $2.88 a pound.

In rates, the yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 2.27%. Germany’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.48%. Britain’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to 1.174%.

Among the key events this week, OPEC and non-member nations will meet in Abu Dhabi today to discuss supply cut compliance, which fell to 86% in July. It’s a week of industrial data in Europe. U.K. factory output for June is due Thursday. After Monday’s industrial production for Germany, Italy is on Wednesday and France on Friday. Among a number of Fed speakers this week, keep a keen ear out for comments by New York Fed boss Bill Dudley on Thursday. South African President Jacob Zuma faces a no-confidence vote. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte resumes talks to form a coalition government on Wednesday. The Fed’s inflation puzzle means Friday’s CPI data will get close attention. Economists estimate that headline picked up in July to 1.8% from 1.6%, while core stayed at 1.7%. Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Serbia and Zambia set monetary policy.

Bulletin Headline Summary

  • Most major currencies nursed some of their post-NFP losses against the greenback, in which EUR/USD attempted to reclaim 1.1800
  • Brexit Back In Focus With Contradicting Reports
  • Looking ahead, highlights include Fed’s Bullard and Kashkari

Global Market Snapshot

  • S&P 500 futures up 0.1% to 2,474
  • STOXX Europe 600 down 0.1% to 382.15
  • MSCI Asia up 0.5% to 161.18
  • MSCI Asia ex-Japan up 0.5% to 530.95
  • Nikkei up 0.5% to 20,055.89
  • Topix up 0.5% to 1,639.27
  • Hang Seng Index up 0.5% to 27,690.36
  • Shanghai Composite up 0.5% to 3,279.46
  • Sensex down 0.06% to 32,305.24
  • Australia S&P/ASX 200 up 0.9% to 5,773.56
  • Kospi up 0.1% to 2,398.75
  • German 10Y yield rose 0.6 bps to 0.474%
  • Euro up 0.3% to 1.1803 per US$
  • Italian 10Y yield rose 3.3 bps to 1.73%
  • Spanish 10Y yield fell 0.5 bps to 1.478%
  • Brent Futures down 0.7% to $52.05/bbl
  • Gold spot down 0.08% to $1,257.89
  • U.S. Dollar Index down 0.2% to 93.37

Top Overnight News

  • North Korea condemned the latest round of United Nations sanctions and reiterated that it wouldn’t negotiate its nuclear deterrence until the U.S. ceases “hostile” policies
  • Theresa May’s office dismissed as speculation a report that the U.K. is prepared to pay a 40 billion-euro ($47 billion) bill to leave the European Union, while leading Brexit supporters pushed back against paying anything at all
  • German industrial production unexpectedly slipped in June as manufacturing and construction caused a temporary blip in the growth spurt of Europe’s largest economy
  • New Chief of Staff Kelly Moves Quickly to Tame Trump’s Tweets
  • Senate Chairman Demanding Answers Ramps Up Trump Russia Probe
  • United Technologies Is Said to Weigh Rockwell Collins Deal
  • Sprint Is Said to Resume Preliminary Talks on T- Mobile Merger
  • BlackRock Real Assets Acquires Magacela Solar Project Bond
  • Berkshire Second Quarter Operating EPS Misses Lowest Estimate
  • Berkshire Filing Shows Further Reduction in Buffett’s IBM Stake
  • Uber Engineer Told Kalanick of Alibi for Downloaded Files
  • Boeing, U.S. Have Deal for Air Force One Planes Russia Abandoned
  • Eros Said in Talks to Sell Content Library to Apple for $1B: ET
  • SoftBank Talks Were Said to Value Uber at $45b: The Information
  • JPMorgan to Announce Warsaw Office Investment in Sept.: Puls

Asian equity markets traded mostly higher following Friday’s gains on Wall Street and as the region took its first opportunity to react to the better than expected NFP release. ASX 200 (+1.0%) was led higher by commodity names after an early surge in Chinese Iron Ore futures, and as strong Australian Construction PMI (60.5 vs. Prey. 56.0) further contributed to the sector’s positivity. Nikkei 225 (+0.6%) was boosted by JPY weakness, Shanghai Comp (+0.2%) was the underperformer despite a substantial liquidity injection by the PBoC, as this still amounted to a daily net outflow of CNY 60bn after expiring prior operations were accounted for. Finally, 10yr JGBs were flat with demand dampened by the upbeat tone in the region and a lack of BoJ Rinban announcement. Shanghai Stock Exchange is to increase scrutiny of M&A, transfer of control deals and other corporate actions that could lead to financial risk in the market. PBoC injected CNY 130b1n in 7-day reverse repos and CNY 120bln in 14-day reverse repos.  PBoC set CNY mid-point at 6.7228 (Prey. 6.7132). Chinese FX Reserves (Monthly) (Jul) 3.081T vs. Exp. 3.069T (Prey. 3.057T) China Q2 prelim current account USD 52.9bln vs. Prev. USD 18.4bln

Top Asian News

  • Correction May Loom for India Bank Stocks, Hedge Fund Warns
  • China’s Foreign Reserves Rise a Sixth Month on Yuan Strength
  • As Results Loom, Noble Group Won’t Reply to Latest Iceberg Barbs
  • North Korea Condemns Latest UN Nuclear Sanctions, Vows Response
  • SoftBank Profit Tops Estimates Amid Shift Into Deals, Investing

European bourses trade rangebound following Friday’s NFP volatility, and do maintain their highs. European bourses trade mixed, however marginally so, with Stoxx 600 sector seeing any movement greater than 1%. A large position liquidation in the German bund sparked some morning volatility, in otherwise quiet conditions. The future contract came off session highs, however, did manage to find support at the 163.00 handle.

Top European News

  • London Home Rents Fall Again After Almost Decade of Growth Halts
  • U.K. House-Price Growth Slows to Weakest Pace in Four Years
  • U.K. Economy Takes a Hit as Consumer Spending Slumps Further
  • German Industrial Output Unexpectedly Falls First Time This Year
  • Euro Climbs to Fresh Day High as Demand on Crosses Supports
  • Paris Aims to Overtake Frankfurt in Race for Brexit Bank Jobs
  • Taking a Long Shot on Cancer, AstraZeneca Defies the Odds
  • Linde Forms Holding Company for Merger With Praxair: Welt

In currencies, the EUR saw some early buying pressure this morning, coinciding with the Bund liquidation, as EUR pairs popped through overnight levels. No fundamental factors sparked the movement, with EUR/CHF seeing the main bullish pressure, yet resistance was found at 1.15 and we now trade at largely pre-announced levels. GBP was unmoved following contradicting reports in UK press over reports on Brexit costs and remains comfortably above 1.30. The Telegraph noted that the UK is prepared to pay EUR 40b1n for Brexit divorce bill, however source reports in the Guardian dismissed this as inaccurate speculation.

In commodities, copper prices traded choppy with initial upside seen as Dalian Iron Ore and Rebar futures surged at the open of China metals trade, which was due to reduced stockpiles and firm demand. However, copper then failed to hold onto the gains and retreated amid a cautious risk tone in China. WTI futures failed to test the USD 50.00/bbl level and ran into some resistance around USD 49.60 on Friday, following the latest Baker Hughes Rig Count. Oil does continue to trade in this August; 48.50 — 50.00 range, as we are set to see an OPEC compliance meeting this week. Global demand has seemingly picked up of late however, with China now overtaking the United States as the world’s largest importer of crude importing an average 8.55m1n BPD in the first half of 2017, above the 8.12mln BPD. WTI has been softer this morning, down 1.20% as we have broken through 49.00/bbl. Libya’s Sharara oil field (largest in the country), is said to face stoppage due to protests, according to press reports.

Looking at the day ahead, today starts with Germany’s industrial production figures for June in early morning, followed by UK’s July Halifax house price index and then US’s consumer credit stats for July. Also today we have speeches from the Fed’s Bullard and the Fed’s Kashkari, followed by the OPEC/Non-OPEC joint technical committee meeting in Abu Dhabi.

US Event Calendar

  • 3pm: Consumer Credit, est. $15.3b, prior $18.4b
  • 10:45am: Fed’s Bullard Speaks on U.S. Economy in Nashville, TN
  • 1:25pm: Fed’s Kashkari Speaks in Bloomington, MN

DB’s Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap

In theory we should now be at the start of the real summer lull that will likely last until the Jackson Hole build-up. The event starts on August 24th so we should now get two weeks of calm. If that statement is not enough to encourage a violent bout of volatility then I don’t know what will! I’m hoping I’ll be still here to report on the lull as my wife was 33 weeks pregnant yesterday and the consultant last week advised delivery at around 36 weeks. However she has some doubts as to whether we’ll get that far though and the average pregnancy length for identical twins is 35 weeks and 2 days. So I’m on standby to panic at any moment. I was desperately hoping we could hold on into September (I say we but….) so they would have an extra year before they start school. All the evidence is that autumn children do better at school and sports than summer children. However I now accept that the mother and twin’s health is more important than me being proud that my boys are the best at sport in their year by virtue of being the oldest and biggest!!

Back to the summer lull. The week post payrolls is normally quiet anyway but this week could be extra so. There’s only really one obvious observable candidate to create a little noise this week and that’s the US CPI numbers on Friday (PPI on Thursday). Friday’s slightly stronger than expected payroll number and hint of stronger wages (more detail below) did have an impact on markets as we’ll see below. Inflation data is probably where the market is most sensitive to a surprise at the moment. Our economists expect gasoline prices to cause headline CPI (+0.1% vs. Unch,) to round down, while core CPI inflation (+0.2% vs. +0.1%) should finally snap its streak of four consecutive monthly misses which could be important. Our economists also remind us that as recent Fed statements have emphasized, policymakers will be monitoring near-term inflation trends closely. Hence, an in line print would provide tentative evidence that the recent downshift in core inflation may be behind us.

What we also might hear about this week is the 10-year anniversary of BNP Paribas announcing that they were closing down three hedge funds specialising in US mortgages. This happened on August 9th 2007 and was the catalyst for the inter-bank market to fully shut down as no-one trusted anyone anymore which in turn set off a course of events that led to the bank run on Northern Rock just over a month later and the other nasty events culminating in the Lehman default 12 months down the line. It seems like only yesterday. Also in quieter times its fascinating to see that President Macron’s approval rating has dipped sharply and as you can see from the graph in today’s PDF, its now not much higher than President Trump’s in the US. Our DB Europe economist Marc de Muizon published a note on Friday analysing the implications of Macron’s recent drop in popularity. He notes that while it is common for freshly elected presidents to see their popularity fall post-election, Macron’s drop is still relatively large and early by historical standards. With the growth momentum in the euro-area and in France picking up, and given his electoral success, Macron now needs to avoid further controversies to ensure his reform agenda can be pushed through to the end. There could be some wider market interest in this story after the summer ends. 

Onto markets and the week is generally starting on the front foot in Asia with the Nikkei +0.6%, the Hang Seng +0.4% and Kospi +0.4% all higher as we type. The Shanghai Comp is actually slightly lower (-0.2%). There’s not been a lot of fresh news flow and sentiment is following the lead from Friday.

Indeed Friday was a strong day for global equity markets (especially in Europe) that capped off an otherwise flat week. Over in the US the S&P 500 ticked up +0.2% following the better than expected payrolls data, with financials leading the way with gains of +0.7% on the day. The S&P 500 has now seen 12 successive closes of less than 0.3% in either direction which is a record with daily data going back to 1927. So quite remarkable really.

The Dow (+0.3%) also continued to trade to new highs (+1.2% on the week but creeping up fractions every day!). European markets saw even stronger performance on Friday as the STOXX 600 rallied +1% as every sector ended the day in positive territory. The STOXX Banks index was also up +1.2% on the day. Regional indices also posted strong gains, with the DAX (+1.2%), CAC (+1.4%), FTSE (+0.5%) and FTSE MIB (+0.7%) all up on the day.

Over in government bond markets the strong payrolls number led to US treasuries selling off across the curve (2Y +1bps; 10Y +4bps). Over in Europe Bunds yields also ticked up at all maturities beyond the 5Y point (10Y +2bps). Gilt yields rose across all maturities (2Y +3bps; 10Y +3bps) to retrace part of the rally that followed the BoE meeting on Thursday, but 10Y Gilt yields were still lower by -4bps on the week. Elsewhere OATs (10Y +3bps) and BTPs (10Y +3bps) were higher across maturities.

Turning to FX markets, the US dollar index (+0.8%) rallied following the strong employment report to end the week higher by +0.4%. On the other side of these moves, EUR (-0.8%) and GBP (-0.8%) both posted losses to end the week roughly flat and down -0.8% respectively. Over in commodity markets the energy sector saw oil pick up gains of about +1.0% on Friday, although it ended the week lower by -0.3% due to bigger losses earlier in the week. Precious Metals were lower on Friday with Gold and Silver down -0.7% and -2.0% respectively, while the industrial metals complex saw copper flat while aluminum dropped by -0.5%. Agricultural commodities were fairly mixed on the day as Cotton (+0.4%) and Corn (+0.8%) while other segments were flat (wheat, soybeans, coffee) to lower (sugar -1.2%).

Friday was a fairly quiet data day over in Europe and most of the equity rally came after payrolls. The only data points of note were German factory orders which held steady at +1.0% (vs. +0.5% expected) followed by Italian retail sales that ticked up by +0.6% in June (vs. +0.1% mom expected) following no growth the month before. However the key market moving data was over in the US with the July employment report. Payrolls beat expectations at 209k (vs. 180k expected) while June’s number was revised up to 231k (from 222k). The unemployment rate ticked down one-tenth as expected to 4.3%, while monthly average hourly earnings also came in line with expectations at +0.3% mom but the YoY growth rate was a tenth higher than expected at 2.5%. Finally we also got US trade balance data for June where the trade deficit narrowed more than expected to – $43.6b (vs. -$44.5b expected; -$46.5b previous).

To the week ahead now. Today starts with Germany’s industrial production figures for June in early morning, followed by UK’s July Halifax house price index and then US’s consumer credit stats for July. Onto Tuesday, Japan’s balance of payments and trade balance figures for June will be out in early morning. Then Germany’s June trade balance, current account, export and import stats are due. France will also report its June trade balance and current account figures. Over in the US, there is the NFIB small business optimism index for July. Turning to Wednesday, China’s CPI and PPI for July will be out in early morning. Later on, Italy’s June industrial production figures and Bank of France’s business sentiment indicator are also due. Over in the US, there is the 2Q nonfarm productivity and unit labour costs data, June wholesale inventories as well as the MBA mortgage applications. For Thursday, the June industrial production and manufacturing production figures for UK and France will be out. Further, June trade balance stats for UK and Italy are also due. Over in the US, we have the July PPI data, the monthly budget statement as well as the initial jobless claims and continuing claims figures. On Friday, the final CPI figures for Germany, France and Italy will be released. Over in the US, CPI stats for July are also due.

Onto other events, today starts with speeches from the Fed’s Bullard and the Fed’s Kashkari, followed by the OPEC/Non-OPEC joint technical committee meeting in Abu Dhabi. Then on Thursday, the Fed’s Dudley will speak. Onto Friday, the Fed’s Kaplan and Fed’s Kashkari will also speak. Finally we’ll still have earnings season continuing on both sides of the Atlantic but we’re now past the peak.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Stay Connected

157,452FansLike
396,312FollowersFollow
2,280SubscribersSubscribe

Latest Articles

0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x