Before the Bell: Reflation concerns prompts yields spike while UK CPI is up next February 17, 2021 Over the past few weeks, it’s been notable that bond markets, both in the UK and in the US are starting to price the risk of higher inflation pressures, as long-term yields move to the upside. Yesterday, US 10-year treasury yields jumped sharply higher to 1.3 per cent, in a move that suggested that markets [...]
City A.M. TV – Daily Market Snapshot (video) February 16, 2021 After ‘pausing’ for most of last week, global equity markets continued to break out to the upside yesterday and overnight. Both the S&P500 and the NASDAQ, for example, have once again made new record highs; Asian indices have squeezed higher; while the UK’s FTSE100 rallied sharply yesterday (closing up +2.5 per cent, and breaking above [...]
City A.M. TV: Daily Market Snapshot (video) February 15, 2021 The great pause, which we have seen in global equity markets over much of February, appears to be over. Markets are breaking out to the upside. That started with strength in the US into the close on Friday, with that strength continuing in Asian trading earlier today. Asian markets are also following – the Nikkei [...]
Zedify: Meet the firm trying to make our city streets greener February 15, 2021 The UK Government declared a Climate Emergency in the summer of 2019. There is no single definition of what action this mandates, but MPs have pledged to reduce the country’s carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Whilst not the ‘carbon neutral by 2030’ goal sought by campaigners such as Extinction Rebellion, it is [...]
Before the Bell: Europe set for a higher open after bitcoin tests $50k February 15, 2021 Bitcoin continued to make new record highs over the weekend, edging close to the $50k level after last week’s surprise revelation that Tesla had taken the decision to plough $1.5bn into the cryptocurrency with a view to making it a means of payment. Despite some widespread scepticism about the wisdom of such a move it would [...]
What to expect from the financial markets in 2021? February 12, 2021 Among the many twists and turns of 2020, the behaviour of the financial markets stands out as particularly fascinating and bewildering. The discrepancy observed between the state of the underlying economy and the performance of stocks and other investment assets surprised even the more seasoned observer, as the underlying economy struggled through an unparalleled peace-time [...]
Before the Bell: Firm focus on UK GDP numbers this morning February 12, 2021 It was another uneventful day in the markets yesterday as fresh news stories were thin on the ground. The same old headlines about vaccines being distributed and optimism with respect to President Biden getting his $1.9 trillion stimulus plan approved in the next few weeks continued to be the main focus of traders’ attention. Both [...]
Bitcoin + Gold = BOLD February 11, 2021 Tesla announced that they had invested $1.5bn in bitcoin and the price duly surged. Markets are more efficient than many believe, and in recent months, the bitcoin price has responded positively to known investment flows more than anything else. Back in the day, Bitcoin would spike on news that a coffee shop accepted payment in [...]
Before the Bell: Quiet start expected for Europe, dealers eye US jobs data February 11, 2021 Stock markets in Europe posted modest losses yesterday as a drop off in confidence towards the end of the session more than wiped out the gains that were registered earlier. For most of the day, equity benchmarks were in positive territory, upbeat sentiment circulated as it was believed the Biden administration will sign off on [...]
Federal Reserve chair calls for national drive to full employment February 10, 2021 Invoking post-World War II efforts to reach full employment and pledging continued loose monetary policy to help the process, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made a broad call Wednesday for a “society-wide commitment” to get Americans back to work, particularly minorities and those ousted from lower-paying jobs during the pandemic. “Given the number of people who have [...]