Global markets steady as oil rallies ahead of US CPI data
US prices for October are forecast to have risen well above the Fed’s target, but markets see this as temporary
London — Global stocks steadied below this week’s record highs and oil prices rose in jittery markets on Wednesday ahead of inflation data later in the day.
The US consumer price index (CPI) for October is predicted by a Reuters poll of economists to come in at an annualised 4.3% on the closely watched core measure, compared with the US Federal Reserve’s average annual 2% inflation target.
“We know inflation is high right now; equity markets don’t expect it to stay too high for too long,” said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors. But the mood could change if there were signs that inflation pressures went beyond supply chain concerns, Shah added.
Brent and US crude futures extended gains into a fourth session, hitting two-week highs around $85 a barrel, after industry data showed US crude stocks unexpectedly fell last week.
The MSCI global equity index was stable and S&P 500 futures were also flat after Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, ending a multi-day rally of consecutive record closing highs as the end of a consensus-beating earnings season comes into view.
European stocks gained 0.18%, helped by energy stocks, but were also stuck below recent highs, while Britain’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.36%.
Another inflation warning came from Chinese factory gate prices, which are gaining at their fastest clip in a quarter century.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reversed earlier losses to gain 0.16%.
Shares in Chinese property developer Fantasia Holdings fell as much as 50%, before recouping some losses, after a six-week trading halt as the company warned it might not be able to meet its debt obligations.
Oxford Economics analysts said they expected China’s property downturn to be “contained”, but added that “with shifting demographics, high numbers of empty apartments, and some big property developers being heavily over-leveraged, China’s huge property sector could crash more heavily”.
Hong Kong stocks also recovered ground, gaining 0.75% after earlier hitting a one-month low.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.6%, hurt by the rising cost of raw materials.
Dollar strengthens
The dollar gained 0.19% against the yen to 113.10 after hitting a one-month low on Tuesday, while the euro fell 0.22% to $1.1566. The dollar index was up 0.19% at 94.15.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield picked up 2.4 basis points to 1.4728% after it touched a six-week low of 1.4150% on Tuesday.
Eurozone bond yields also ticked up, with Germany’s 10-year yield, the benchmark for the bloc, up one basis point to -0.29%, slightly above the seven-week low of -0.299% touched on Tuesday.
Brent crude futures were at $85.16 a barrel up 0.44%, after rising 1.6% on Tuesday.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.1%, to $84.19 a barrel, adding to Tuesday’s 2.7% gain.
Gold and bitcoin have been the primary beneficiaries of the market turbulence, with gold up about 3.5% in a week to $1,826 an ounce and bitcoin hovering at $66,778 after hitting a record of $68,564 a day ago.
Reuters