US equity futures are weaker as yields resume their rise and the USD strengthens after the BOE signaled it was ready to cut rates. As of 7:45am, S&P futures were down 0.2% and Nasdaq futures dipped 0.3% as all Mag7 names and most semis were red in the premarket. Most European markets are lower, tracking US futures and Asian stocks in what appears to be de-risking in a catalyst-light week. 10Y treasuries ticked lower for a second day, pushing the yield about 2bps higher to 4.51% after a $42 billion sale of 10-year notes received tepid demand. Commodities are stronger with Ags/Energy outperforming Metals. Jobless data is not expected to be market moving but keep an eye on the 30Y bond auction.
In premarket trading, US-listed shares of Arm Holdings plunged 8.5% after the chip-design company gave a full-year forecast that is seen as mixed relative to consensus, especially given the market’s high expectations. Airbnb shares also tumbled 8.7% after the home-rental company’s Q2 revenue forecast trailed the average analyst estimate, ahead of the peak summer season. Here are some other notable premarket movers:
The recent stock bounce is fading as the earnings season winds down, leaving investors to wait for new data - especially next week's CPI report - for clues to gauge how fast policymakers will be able to begin cutting rates. The pound fell against all of its Group of 10 peers after the Bank of England edged closer to cutting interest rates from a 16-year high, with two of the nine committee members voting for lower borrowing costs. US initial jobless claims data later Thursday will be another focal point for investors seeking more evidence that the labor market is finally softening, allowing the Federal Reserve to begin lowering rates by the end of the year. Prospects for a Fed rate cut improved after softer-than-expected US payrolls last week.
“We still see potential rate cuts to be some months out and with no probable actions occurring prior to September,” Louise Dudley, portfolio manager for global equities at Federated Hermes, said in a note to clients. “US economy figures have generally been hot.”
The CPI figures due next week will offer fresh insights about the US economy after recent employment data showed the labor market is cooling. Fed Bank of Boston President Susan Collins signaled Wednesday that interest rates will likely need to be held at a two-decade high for longer than previously thought to damp demand and reduce price pressures.
European stocks fell 0.2%, hovering near record highs after rising in the prior four sessions. The energy sector outperformed, while autos were the worst laggards. Markets in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland are closed for a holiday. Banco de Sabadell SA rose after Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA commenced a $12 billion hostile bid for the lender. Here are the most notable movers:
Asian stocks resumed gains on Thursday, lifted by optimism around key offshore Chinese tech companies as they report earnings next week. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed as much as 0.4% after its four-day winning streak was halted in the previous session. Hong Kong-listed shares were among the best performers in the region, with Tencent giving the biggest boost to the index ahead of earnings next week. Meituan shares jumped nearly 5% after Citi raised its price target on expectation that earnings will show growth in the food delivery business. Japan’s Topix gained nearly 0.9% after BOJ Minutes revealed a desire from at least one member to sell all ETFs and an acknowledgement that a weaker JPY may lead to more inflation; the Australian benchmark fell after rising for five consecutive sessions. Stocks in Korea traded lower. Earnings of top Chinese technology companies will be key for the bounce-back in the nation’s stocks from their multi-year lows to continue. Tencent and Alibaba both publish results next Tuesday, followed by JD.com and Baidu two days later.
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% as the greenback gained against all Group-of-10 peers; Treasury yields rose 1-3bps across the curve.
Treasuries are lower on the day, but have pared declines as gilts jump on Bank of England’s 7-2 vote to keep rates on hold, with Ramsden joining Dhingra in supporting a cut. UK curve steepens with 2-year yields dropping around 3bp on the day. US long-end yields remain cheaper by about 3bp with front-end outperforming slightly. 10-year around 4.51%, also cheaper by 3bp on the day; gilt yields reached day’s lows and GBP/USD fell as much as 0.4% to 1.245% after BOE policy announcement. US session includes weekly jobless claims and $25b 30-year bond sale, last of week’s three auctions.
In commodities, oil prices advance, with WTI rising 0.6% to trade near $79.40. Spot gold is little changed.
Bitcoin softer on the session and holds just shy of USD 61k, whilst Ethereum unable to climb back above USD 3k.
To the day ahead now, and the main highlight will be the Bank of England’s latest policy decision and Governor Bailey’s press conference. Other speakers will include ECB Vice President de Guindos, the ECB’s Cipollone, Bank of Canada Governor Macklem, the Fed’s Daly, and BoE chief economist Pill. Otherwise in the US, we’ll get the weekly initial jobless claims, and there’s a 30yr Treasury auction taking place.
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A more detailed look at global markets courtesy of Newqsuawk
APAC stocks were mixed as the region took its cue from the indecisive performance stateside owing to mixed earnings and as markets await the next major catalysts, while the somewhat mixed but improved Chinese trade data had little impact. ASX 200 was dragged lower by underperformance in consumer stocks and financials with the latter pressured after Australia's largest lender CBA reported a decline in profits. Nikkei 225 recovered from an early dip with trade contained as participants digested BoJ rhetoric and soft wages. Hang Seng & Shanghai Comp were underpinned amid resilience in the tech sector and after China's eastern city of Hangzhou lifted all home purchase restrictions, although there were headwinds from default concerns as Country Garden Holdings (2007 HK) failed to make coupon payments on a yuan-denominated bond due today but still has a grace period.
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European bourses, Stoxx600 (-0.2%) are mixed and unable to find direction, taking lead from an indecisive session in APAC trade with newsflow somewhat light thus far on account of Ascension Day. European sectors are mixed and with the breadth of the market fairly narrow, though with the exception of Autos, which has been weighed on by Mercedes-Benz (-5.5%). Energy is found at the top of the pile, propped up by broader strength in crude prices. US Equity Futures (ES -0.2%, NQ -0.3%, RTY -0.5%) are in the red, with slight underperformance in the RTY continuing the weakness seen in the prior session. In terms of stock specifics, Arm (-9%) is lower in the pre-market, despite beating on top/bottom line, though its guidance failed to impress investors & Tesla (-1.5%) on reports around China job reductions. Goldman Sachs raises 12-month FTSE 100 cash target to 8,800 from 8,200 (last close 8,354)
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DB's Jim Reid concludes the overnight wrap
Morning from an early morning taxi to Heathrow en route to Madrid. After a remarkable Champions League semi-final last night I'm expecting a party in half the city at least today!
A little like Bayern last night, markets finally ran out of steam yesterday, with the S&P 500 (-0.00%) narrowly ending its run of four consecutive gains. If you're looking for the dullest stat ever then the -0.03 points move was the smallest in either direction since the -0.02 points decline in September 2018.
The pause for breath was partly due to some disappointing earnings releases, but it also comes on the back of its strongest 4-day rally since November, so it was always going to be hard to maintain that pace. It was much the same story for sovereign bonds too, as the 10yr Treasury yield (+3.7bps) moved higher after a run of five consecutive declines. However, it wasn’t all bad news, as Europe’s STOXX 600 (+0.34%), the UK’s FTSE 100 (+0.49%) and Germany’s DAX (+0.37%) all hit fresh record highs.
Amidst all this, there were fresh signs that rate cuts were moving back into fashion yesterday, as the Swedish Riksbank became the second central bank with a G10 currency to cut rates in this cycle. The move was expected, but it was the first rate cut they’d delivered since 2016, so it was a big milestone, which took the policy rate down by 25bps to 3.75%. In addition, their statement signalled that more cuts were likely ahead, saying that if the inflation outlook held up, then they expected two more cuts in the second half of this year. It’s also worth noting that they’re in a better position than some other central banks, as their preferred measure of inflation (CPIF) was at 2.2% in March, so just above their 2% target.
The Riksbank’s decision follows the Swiss National Bank’s cut back in March, and it comes with mounting anticipation that the larger central banks are soon about to follow. In particular, the focus is turning to the ECB, who are increasingly expected to cut rates in four weeks’ time, marking the first cut since before the pandemic. Likewise, investors are now pricing in a 68% chance the Bank of Canada will cut at their next meeting in June. So it’s plausible that within a couple of months, we could have several central banks easing policy, with the global monetary policy cycle in easing mode with the considerable exception of the US. Yesterday's CoTD (here) stretching back nearly 7 decades shows how rare it is for Europe to be easing before the US so we'll have to see the implications in the months ahead. The obvious one is for dollar strength to continue.
Central banks will remain in focus today, as we’ve got the Bank of England’s latest policy decision at 12:00 London time. In terms of what to expect, it’s widely anticipated they’ll leave rates unchanged at 5.25%, where they’ve been since August. So the focus will instead be on the vote split, their new forecasts, and what their forward guidance signals about potential cuts in the future. DB’s UK economist thinks the vote will be 7-2 to remain on hold, with 2 voting to cut, and he also expects a further dovish tilt in the forward guidance, which would set the stage for a June rate cut. See his full preview here
But even as central banks are pivoting towards rate cuts, yesterday saw sovereign bonds lose ground on both sides of the Atlantic, ending a run of gains since the Fed’s decision last week. For instance, the 10yr US Treasury yield was back up +3.7bps to 4.495% and is trading at 4.515% as I type in Asia hours. Marginally adding to the bond sell-off was the latest 10yr Treasury auction, that saw $42bn of bonds issued at 4.48%, 1bp above the pre-sale yield. And over in Europe, yields on 10yr bunds (+4.3bps), OATs (+4.1bps) and BTPs (+3.6bps) all moved higher, whilst Swedish 10yr yields (+3.5bps) saw a similar move despite the rate cut.
For equities, there was a more divergent performance on either side of the Atlantic, with those in Europe holding up and seeing the fresh records mentioned above and those in the US losing a touch of momentum. The S&P 500 was essentially flat on the day (-0.00%). Moderate losses from the Magnificent 7 (-0.29%) were counterbalanced by advances among sectors including utilities (+1.05%) and banks (+1.22%). But the overall tone was titled to the negative side with 7 of the 11 S&P 500 sector groups down on the day and the small cap Russell 2000 underperforming (-0.46%).
Elsewhere, it was a volatile day for oil prices, which reversed their earlier losses to leave Brent crude up +0.51% at $83.58/bbl ($83.95 overnight). At first they had seen a sharp decline, hitting an intraday low of $81.71/bbl, which is the lowest they’ve been in almost a couple of months. But then we had the latest weekly data from the EIA showing that US crude oil inventories were down by 1.36m barrels, leading to a recovery in prices.
Asian equity markets are notably higher this morning even if US futures are edging slightly lower. Chinese stocks are outperforming with the Hang Seng (+1.23%) leading gains followed by the CSI (+1.03%) and the Shanghai Composite (+0.91%) after Chinese property stocks surged after Hangzhou removed home buying restrictions, in a move that created speculation that other cities might follow. Elsewhere, the Nikkei (+0.33%) is reversing its previous session losses while the KOSPI (-1.05%) is retreating, bucking the regional trend. S&P 500 (-0.09%) and NASDAQ 100 (-0.16%) futures are trading slightly lower.
Coming back to China, export growth surpassed market expectations in April with exports rebounding +1.5% y/y (v/s +1.3% expected) after falling -7.5% in March, its first contraction since November. Imports increased +8.4% (v/s +4.7% expected), reversing the prior month’s -1.9% decline. April trade surplus stood at US$72.4 billion, compared with US$58.6 billion in March.
Moving to Japan, the latest salary data showed that real wages fell -2.5% y/y in March (v/s -1.4% expected), notching the sharpest drop in four months and extending the streak of declines to exactly 24 months. It followed the previous month’s -1.8% drop, as the rising cost of living outpaced nominal wages. Nominal wages rose +0.6% y/y in March, slowing from a downwardly revised +1.4% increase seen in February.
Elsewhere, government bonds are seeing losses in Asia with yields notably higher in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. As I type, 10yr government bond yields are over +7bps higher in Australia and New Zealand with 10yr JGB yields is +2.9bps higher at +0.90%, not far from the multi-year highs seen briefly in January.
There wasn’t much data yesterday, although German industrial production fell by -0.4% in March (vs. -0.7% expected), whilst Italian retail sales were unchanged (vs. +0.1% expected). Separately in the US, weekly data from the MBA showed that the contract rate on a 30yr mortgage was down -11bps to 7.18% over the week ending May 3, ending a run of four consecutive weekly increases.
To the day ahead now, and the main highlight will be the Bank of England’s latest policy decision and Governor Bailey’s press conference. Other speakers will include ECB Vice President de Guindos, the ECB’s Cipollone, Bank of Canada Governor Macklem, the Fed’s Daly, and BoE chief economist Pill. Otherwise in the US, we’ll get the weekly initial jobless claims, and there’s a 30yr Treasury auction taking place.