MeritKapital News
World shares are trading near record highs
World shares are trading near record highs on Wednesday with 12% gain for the half-year following a strong US consumer confidence data. The markets have been supported by trillions of monetary and fiscal stimuli in response to COVID-19. At the same time European markets have opened lower today with inflation and pandemic-related worries. The focus…
Read MoreRussia plans another rate hike as inflation heats up
US stocks closed mostly higher on Monday with the NASDAQ and the S&P closing at record highs. The NASDAQ led, up 0.98%, as the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook was dismissed while the S&P rose 0.23%. The DOW shed 0.44% however following over-3% slides in Boeing and Chevron. Yield on 10Y USTs closed 5bps lower…
Read MoreDelta variant concerns mount
Asian markets have opened mixed this Monday morning as corona virus cases spike in the region hurting the sentiment. Last week, global shares reached record highs with weaker-than-expected US inflation and news of a bipartisan US infrastructure agreement boosting the risk appetite. The main economic event this week will be the US Jobs report on…
Read MoreU.S. agrees infrastructre spending package
U.S. stocks rallied in the regular session and extended hours after President Joe Biden secured an infrastructure deal with Senators. The total cost of this deal will be $1 trillion, which is significantly lower than the $2.3 trillion he had proposed. U.S. stocks also rose after the Federal Reserve released its stress test results in…
Read MoreIMF to send Kenya $407 million, cites program advance
A relatively quiet day yesterday in the U.S markets as the 10Y USTs were marginally higher in yields on hawkish Fed comments. Recent UST moves have been driven by Fed comments and positioning, with the comments highlighting the difference of opinion among the FOMC members. Today again we get six Fed speakers — a mix…
Read MoreFitch revises Ghana’s outlook to negative; affirms at ‘B’
Focus was on Powell speech yesterday, as he sought to calm the markets with a dovish message. He said, inflation is mostly in areas that suffer supply shortages and that the inflation which hit 5% over a year earlier in May is likely to subside as economic activity revives. On Wall Street, the S&P 500…
Read MoreBelarus reels as EU announces sanctions
US stocks rebounded from the slump that followed the recent FOMC meeting. The DOW led gains up 1.76%, its best performance since March while the S&P rose 1.40%. The NASDAQ rose a comparatively modest 0.79% as it was held back by losses in key names such as Tesla and Amazon. Yield on 10Y USTs closed…
Read MoreTreasuries curve flattens with 30-year yields dropping below 2%
We start this week in a risk off mode with Asian markets declining, as the last week surprise hawkish shift by US Federal Reserve is being processed by the investors. The Federal Reserve’s signal that interest rates hikes could come sooner is expected to dominate markets this week with the focus on the appearance of…
Read MoreInvestors unwind the reflation trades
Investors’ risk appetite had faded midweek after Federal Reserve officials gave the clearest signals yet that they plan to gradually pull back the monetary policies that helped propel markets to record highs. Their median projection showed they see lifting their benchmark rate by the end of 2023, sooner than previously forecast. The S&P 500 ended…
Read MoreS&P 500 slips as yields jump after FED signals hikes coming in 2023
The dollar boasted its strongest single day gain in 15 months as the 10-year US Treasury yields jumped by the most since early March. The US Federal Reserve stunned investors by signaling it might raise interest rates at a much faster pace than assumed, sending bond yields and the dollar sharply higher. The S&P 500…
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