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☆ Major Gulf bourses end lower on falling oil prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Md Manzer Hussain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 11 (Reuters) - Major stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday in response to falling oil prices and weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data. The Qatari Stock index (.QSI) dropped 0.5%, extending its losses to a second session. The index recorded a drop in all sectors with Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank (QNBK.QA) falling 0.6% and Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB.QA) shedding 0.7%. However, the oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) and the kingdom's biggest bank Saudi National Bank (1180.SE) lost 0.3% and 0.9% respectively. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30) climbed 1.3%, extending its previous session gains.

Persons: Md Manzer Hussain, Ros Russell Organizations: Saudi, Gulf's, Qatar National Bank, Qatar International Islamic Bank, Bank Aljazira, Saudi Industrial Investment Group, Saudi Aramco, Saudi National Bank, Fawry Banking, Thomson Locations: Saudi

☆ Morning Bid: Fearless VIX, China miss, Canada hike?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Wall St's 'fear index', the VIX (.VIX) gauge of implied S&P500 equity volatility, closed below 14 on Tuesday for the first time since February 2020 - more than 5 points below its 33 year average. What's more, the OECD saw Fed rates peaking after just one more hike to the 5.25-5.5% range and "modest" cuts next year. Oil prices remain lower on the week despite new Saudi output cut plans and year-on-year prices are still falling at 36%. Events to watch for later on Wednesday:* Bank of Canada key policy interest rate announcement* U.S. April trade balance. Federal Reserve issues Consumer Credit report for April* Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travels to Washington to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden* U.S. corporate earnings: Campbell Soup, Brown-FormanReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsBy Mike Dolan, Editing by Louise Heavens <a href="mailto:mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com" target="_blank">mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com</a>.

Persons: Mike Dolan, you'd, eked, Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, Rishi Sunak, Joe Biden, Campbell, Brown, Forman, Louise Heavens Organizations: U.S, Organisation for Economic Cooperation, Development, World Bank, OECD, Bank of Canada, Canadian, Bank of, Federal, Britain's, Forman Reuters Graphics Reuters, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, York, Saudi, Asia, Bank of Canada, Washington

☆ European stocks open mixed amid downbeat market sentiment
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 0.1% higher around market open. Major bourses and sectors traded across positive and negative territory, with minor gains led by a 0.7% uptick in mining stocks. Tech stocks made the biggest losses with a 0.7% drop. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Monday there were "signs of moderation" in core inflation in the euro zone, but emphasized that it was too early to call a peak. The latest data showed inflation easing more than expected for May to 6.1%, but that figure remains well above the 2% target.

Persons: bourses, Christine Lagarde Organizations: Tech, European Central Bank Locations: Asia, Pacific

☆ European markets open muted; oil and gas up 1% on output cut news
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In Europe, traders are still analyzing the impact of Thursday's inflation data, which showed euro zone inflation falling to its lowest level since February 2022. European markets opened muted after ending on a high on Friday, as traders digest the U.S. debt ceiling agreement and euro zone inflation data. Oil and gas stocks led gains with a 1.1% uptick after Saudi Arabia announced voluntary cuts to its output Sunday, starting in July. In Europe, traders are still analyzing the impact of Thursday's inflation data, which showed euro zone inflation falling to its lowest level since February 2022. Asia-Pacific markets were largely higher on the U.S. debt ceiling news, while U.S. equity futures were little changed Sunday evening.

Persons: Christine Lagarde Organizations: European Central Bank Locations: Europe, Saudi Arabia, OPEC, Asia, Pacific

☆ Morning Bid: Jubilant markets eye jobs in June jump
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzA look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike DolanWith the U.S. debt ceiling removed, world markets see the sky again - encouraged that robust U.S. labor markets continue to defy recession fears as interest rates near peaks. And judged by all the other labor market soundings this week, there are few signs yet of any significant disturbance to the still-robust employment picture. Wall St's "fear index" - the VIX (.VIX) gauge of implied equity volatility - hit its lowest level since November 2021 early on Friday. To the extent the dollar was bid by debt-ceiling stress and thoughts of another June Fed hike, then it's fallen back again too. Elsewhere, oil markets are closely watching the weekend OPEC ministers meeting - although further production cuts are not expected.

Persons: Elizabeth Frantz, Mike Dolan, Hong Kong's, Hang, Lululemon, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Senate, Federal Reserve, Nasdaq, Fed, The United, Broadcom, Thomson, Reuters Locations: Arlington , Virginia, U.S, China, Hong Kong, The United Nations, South Africa

☆ Morning Bid: Debt deal is near, Fed peak is not
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Investors juggled these three strands over the past 24 hours, with top-line equity index relief from the Nvidia-inspired spur to artificial intelligence and chip stocks everywhere. And the banking stress that changed the picture in March appears to be settling too, judging by the latest central bank numbers. Friday brings some hope that White House and congressional leaders can ink a deal on lifting the U.S. debt ceiling they indicated overnight was now close - just before the Treasury Department runs out of cash from June 1 next week. Anxieties in the Treasury bill market only eased a touch, and one-month bill yields remained above 6% early Friday. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Morning Bid: Tech politics, debt cap brinkmanship
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Well-choreographed brinkmanship over the debt ceiling standoff looks set to go down to the wire, while technology firms have once again become a battleground in tense geopolitics. As AI-fueled U.S. technology stocks have led the way this year, the S&P (.SPX) has gained almost 10% this year and hit its highest level in nine months on Friday. Minneapolis Fed chief Neel Kashkari said on Sunday he could support holding rates steady at the next meeting. Futures markets see more than an 80% chance of a June pause and still price almost 50bp of cuts by yearend. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Morning Bid: Showdown on the ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

With world markets still at an impasse on the extent of the economic slowdown and chance of recession, the U.S. debt ceiling impasse remains unresolved - and Tuesday's showdown at the White House is one of the few opportunities left to resolve it. Biden meets Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy for the first time since February. There are only six days this month when the House and the Senate are in session when Biden is in Washington. Longer-term Treasury yields remain under wraps, however, with 2-year yields hovering just under 4%. DEBT CEILINGBeyond the debt ceiling row, the picture of the wider economy remains equivocal.

☆ UK listing shakeup requires double dose of hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Financial Conduct Authority isn’t the only watchdog to water down its listing rules, but it has more reasons than most to up its game. The UK prides itself on being a financial hub, but accounted for just 5% of global IPOs between 2015 and 2020. That’s why the FCA is proposing to replace a fiddly two-tier system of standard and “premium” listing rules with a single class. CONTEXT NEWSThe UK Financial Conduct Authority on May 2 published a series of proposals designed to encourage companies to list in the UK. The new framework would remove many investor protections currently required under the premium listing category.

☆ Morning Bid: Volatile news, not markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

While the Federal Reserve is almost certain to raise interest rates again on Wednesday, the move could be its last. So in a holiday-strewn month around the world, the VIX (.VIX) - Wall St's so-called 'fear gauge' of the implied stock market volatility for the month ahead - hit its lowest level on Monday since November 2021. Even though it ticked back up a bit above 16 overnight, it remains three full points below its 33-year historical average. For macro markets, the Fed decision is complicated by the debt ceiling and banking backdrop. March job openings numbers later on Tuesday will give an indication of just how tight the labor market remains.

☆ Morning Bid: Amazon cools, Intel warms, Japan hesitates
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. But the dramatic re-acceleration of Big Tech stocks this week - where the NYFANG+TM (.NYFANG) index of the top 10 Big Tech stocks is now up 37% so far this year - is competing with multiple macro narratives that are increasingly hard to read. With the Fed meeting in view, the release of March PCE price inflation data later on Friday tops the diary. Wall St stock futures fell back 0.4% after a wild ride in Amazon.com shares overnight. With much of Europe and Asia closed on Monday for the May Day bank holiday, Asia bourses advanced in Wall St's slipstream but Europe retreated sharply on some jarring corporate updates.

☆ Morning Bid: Fresh spur from Meta and Europe's banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Perhaps even more surprising, Europe's big banks are wowing the gallery too - showing limited, if any, fallout from the failure of ailing Credit Suisse at the end of the quarter. And so the glass appears half full again despite background tensions around regional U.S. banks and as wider markets brace for several weeks of a U.S. debt ceiling standoff. With Amazon reporting later, its stock rose another 2% ahead of the bell too. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly passed a bill to raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling that includes sweeping spending cuts over the next decade. The dollar was marginally weaker, with crude oil prices struggling to recover from their latest lunge lower this week.

☆ Morning Bid: Cloud control - tech trumps banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Alphabet (GOOGL.O) also gained 1% as it too trumpeted gains in cloud services and AI, alongside plans for a $70 billion buyback. With Meta (META.O) results out later, its stock was up 2% and Amazon (AMZN.O) raced ahead 4%. PacWest Bancorp's (PACW.O) shares jumped 15% in extended trading after the regional lender said deposits have been building recently. And in Europe, Standard Chartered (STAN.L) shares bucked otherwise dour markets on a forecast-beating 21% jump in first-quarter profits. U.S. Treasury markets continued to rally, with yields on 2-year notes dropping below 4% Tuesday and testing 3.9% early today.

☆ Morning Bid: April boomlet mocks recession script
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike DolanThe signal is still lost in an awful lot of noise. With next week's Big Tech earnings reports hoving into view, the overall U.S. corporate healthcheck remains pretty mixed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the overall global stock market direction remains equivocal. Although Asia bourses had initially followed Wall St's Thursday swoon, European indexes and S&P500 futures were little changed on Friday. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) (LSEG.L) and UK trade officials visited several cities in China to promote UK capital markets recently. Wilson Xu, a banking veteran from CITIC Securities pioneering the Stock Connect programme, said liquidity will improve when there is a critical mass of Chinese listings. The Shanghai-London Stock Connect was launched in 2019 and the link was expanded last year to include Shenzhen and Switzerland. Even arrangements by SIX to allow roughly 2.5 hours of trading in a session for Chinese GDRs didn't help. Chinese companies, however, have been positive in public disclosures about their forays in Europe which have given them an alternative channel to raise funds and access foreign currency for their operations abroad.

☆ Morning Bid: Oil price relapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Although oil prices have not yet reversed all their gains from OPEC move, Brent is down more than 5% over the past week and the year-on-year deflation in oil prices is running at 24%. And there's also signs oil loading from Russia's western ports this month is rising to the highest since 2019 -= despite Moscow's pledge to cut output. Tesla (TSLA.O) shares dropped 2% after the electric-vehicle maker's sixth U.S. price cut this year. Helped by the oil price retreat, 2-year U.S. Treasury yields fell back almost 10 basis points to 4.19%. VIX and bear marketsShare price performance, earnings and sales for TeslaReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsBy Mike Dolan, <a href="mailto:mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com" target="_blank">mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com</a>.

☆ Morning Bid: Crowded bonds unnerved
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

This has some wondering if the recent dash for cash and top-rated bonds has become a bit crowded and how much more tightening central banks have to do. As we move into the weeds of the first-quarter U.S. earnings season, it's been a mixed bag so far. That clearly unnerved UK government bonds - where 10 year yields jumped 10bps - but it also jarred sovereign bonds around the world. Elsewhere, further signs of healing were evident in the global bank funding market. Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) sold $1 billion of additional tier-1 debt, the first major global bank to sell the risky securities since similar bonds issued by Credit Suisse were wiped out last month.

☆ Morning Bid: Global pulse picks up, rates creep higher again
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike DolanWith investors largely assuming recession ahead, an accelerating global economic pulse challenges the narrative and is seeing interest rates tick back higher again as the March banking wobble subsides. With March starts and permits numbers out later, there was also signs of a troughing in the U.S. housing market. Confidence among U.S. single-family homebuilders improved for a fourth straight month in April as a dearth of previously owned homes and falling mortgage rates boosted demand. Wall St futures were higher again on Tuesday, with European bourses and most Asia indices advancing too. With euro zone and UK rate expectations pushing higher too, the dollar slipped back again against the euro and sterling .

☆ Morning Bid: Banks calm the horses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

As U.S. banking giants calm the horses, global investors are now concentrated on world growth and earnings signals more than interest rate rises for direction - with an assumption the latter are near an end anyway. Somewhat relieved analysts marginally brightened their dim outlook for first-quarter U.S. results compared with a week ago. Futures markets now see a more than 80% chance the Fed will execute one final quarter point rate rise next month - reversing it by September. That rate rise would bring the real Fed policy rate - adjusted by headline consumer price inflation - into positive territory for the first time in three years. The dollar extended Friday's rebound as the May rate rise pricing hardened.

MSCI's Europe index, for example, still trades more than a point below its average historic valuation - with the index priced at less than 13 times its 12-month forward earnings. The top sectoral weighting in the STOXX Europe 50, for example, is healthcare - at almost 23%. With British-based stocks the biggest country weighting in the STOXX Europe index at 26%, the other top four sectors in the index include the food, beverages and tobacco grouping, consumer products, industrial goods and energy. The dollar peaked late last year against most European currencies as the Federal Reserve raced to ratchet up interest rates. Some think the slide in the dollar index of some 12% since last September is barely half of the whole move.

☆ Morning Bid: Stocks defy negativity in CPI vigil
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Federal Reserve's interest rate stance hinges on incoming data such as Wednesday's consumer price report, but fears of recession remain just that. And so investors return to scrutinising the Fed to see if the central bank forces the recession by tightening ever further. With Fed policy meeting minutes due later in the day, the runes of what must have been a tense gathering of officials in the middle of the regional banking shock will be eyed closely. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari reckoned recession was still a risk but inflation wouldn't get back close to the 2% target until next year. Hong Kong stocks (.HSI) underperformed overnight - with geopolitical tensions high surrounding Taiwan and Chinese military operations around the island.

☆ Morning Bid: Glass half full on disinflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Headline March consumer price inflation is expected to drop as low as 5.2% from 6% - showing the disinflation journey from more than 40-year highs of 9.2% last June to the Fed's 2% target more than half way there. The rider is that headline inflation rates are expected be below stickier annual 'core' rates, which are forecast to have ticked higher to 5.6% last month. The International Monetary Fund's updated World Economic Outlook is also due on Tuesday ahead of the Fund's Spring meeting in Washington. The disinflation picture was encouraged around the world on Tuesday as Chinese consumer price inflation hit an 18-month low last month and the annual decline in factory prices sped up. Hopes that central bank rates are cresting worldwide lifted risk appetite across the spectrum with major cryptocurrency bitcoin broke back above $30,000 level for the first time in 10 months on Tuesday.

☆ After a 'rollercoaster' quarter, strategists are still relatively upbeat about Asia-Pacific markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"China's growth recovery and north Asia's earnings rebound in 2024 remain our key investment themes and overweight areas," Goldman Sachs' strategists, led by Timothy Moe, wrote in a Saturday note. It's been a dramatic quarter for Asia-Pacific stock markets, but strategists are expecting the region to be in better shape than its global peers. Stocks in the Asia-Pacific were mixed on the first day of trade of the second quarter of the year, with economists predicting China's recovery will cushion the dampening effect of high global interest rates on the regional economy. "China's growth recovery and north Asia's earnings rebound in 2024 remain our key investment themes and overweight areas," Goldman Sachs' strategists, led by Timothy Moe, wrote in a Saturday note. The Goldman strategists said their views are supported by strong activity data seen in the previous quarter.

☆ Most Middle Eastern bourses in black on US inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( Ateeq Shariff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Most Gulf currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar, and Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates usually mirror any monetary policy change in the United States. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) gained 0.4%, with Retal Urban Development Co (4322.SE) rising 0.5% and petrochemical maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp (2010.SE) closing 1.7% higher. Oil prices - a key catalyst for the Gulf's financial markets - rose by more than a dollar per barrel on Friday, on tightening supplies and cooling U.S. inflation. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) raised its overnight interest rate by 200 basis points (bps) on Thursday following a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), saying it aimed to bring high inflation into check. In Qatar the index (.QSI) dropped 1.2% as natural gas prices remained under pressure.

☆ Morning Bid: Brittle banks find a berth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

With few fresh weekend developments on the European bank stock rigor late last week, European bourses and bank stocks found a level too. Deutsche Bank, whose stock lurched lower on Friday amid fears about rising bank funding costs, regained about 3% on Monday. Deposits at small banks fell by $120 billion in the week to March 15, while borrowing jumped $253 billion. Economists polled by Reuters expect the headline year-on-year inflation rate to have cooled to 7.2% from 8.5% in February. * U.S. Treasury auctions 2-year notes* U.S. corporate earnings: CarnivalReuters GraphicsReuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsBy Mike Dolan, editing by Ed Osmond, <a href="mailto:mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com" target="_blank">mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com</a>.

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