Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his $85 billion per month bond buying spree will be tapering down and winding down together. Wednesday’s announcement eliminated speculation about the Fed’s plans. Tapering will begin later this year and the spending spree will conclude in 2014, the same year Bernanke will relinquish the reins.
The news has sent shock waves through global equity markets and created uneasy volatility in currency markets. The move sends a loud message that markets and investors must return to fundamentals. Interest rates will rise, enterprises will be valued by their performance and the Fed will have to start planning to dispose of trillions of dollars of assets. It’s back to the basics and for many it’s about time.
The Fed’s position should not have been a surprise. In his May 22, 2013, meeting, Bernanke set the stage. Equity markets reacted but bounced back. This time, the fall has been faster and deeper.
Currency markets have also reacted strongly. On Thursday, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was down 24/32, yielding 2.4412 percent. The USD reached two-week highs against major currencies and is poised to extend gains on Friday. On Fridy, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.531 percent.
Meanwhile, investors rushed to pull money from emerging economies. The dollar posted a 1.53 percent gain against the yen to 98.28 yen. The dollar pushed the euro to a two-week low at $1.3162. Speculation is that the euro will soon fall below the $1.30 mark.
Disappointing factory output in China had analysts wondering if the government would intercede. China’s economy slowed to the lowest growth rate in 13 year in 2012 and is on pace to shrink further this year.
In Europe, Markit’s Flash Eurozone Composite PIN remained below the trend line for growth in the region. With China’s slowdown and the tapering of US stimulus, prospects for growth in Europe are dim. The Fed’s stimulus had a major impact upon the global marketplace. In overnight trading, political turmoil in Greece pushed 10-year bonds up 70 basis points to an unsustainable 11.4 percent.
Peru’s currency, sol, closed at 2.79 against the USD, it’s lowest close in more than 2 years. The central bank immediately tried to sell 950 billion soles in two-month notes. Currencies in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines experienced large volume pullback, underscoring the fragility of emerging economies.
The dollar got a further boost from improved factory output in the Midwest and from an increase in existing home sales. Against a basket of currencies, the USD reached a two-week high of 82.145, up 0.5 percent. The Australian dollar fell to a 33-month low against the USD. This decline was heavily influenced by China’s nine month low factory report.
Equity Markets. Tremble
On Wednesday and Thursday, the S&P 500 suffered its biggest losses since April. The index fell below its moving 50-day average for just the second day this year. The S&P was 4 percent below the record high of 1,669.16 set the day before Bernanke ‘s May speech.
The Dow Jones shed 293.06 points, nearly 2 percent, settling at 14,819.13 at Thursday’s close. Equities in Europe lost 3 percent. MTSCI’s emerging market index slumped 3.69 percent. The Asian Pacific region outside Japan fell 3.87 percent. MTSCI’s all-country world index lost 2.93 percent, while the FTSEEurofirst 300 index settled at 1,143.99, down 3.07 percent.
On Friday, major equity indexes rallied slightly. The Nasdaq fell for the third straight day. 47 percent of Nasdaq stocks rose on Friday. 10.29 billion shares exchanged hands on the New York Stock Exchange.6.36 million Nasdaq shares were traded.
When trading commenced on Friday, the S&P 500 was off 5 percent from its all-time high reached on May 21. The CBOE Volatility Index fell 8 percent after jumping 23 percent on Thursday.
For the week, the DOW was off 1.8 percent. The S&P 500 was down 2.1 percent and Nasdaq shed 1.9 percent. Nicholas Cage, the chief market analyst At ConvergEx in New York summed up analyst sentiment; “A lot of investors thought the sell-off was overdone after we broke through those technical levels, but all the existential things that drove us down are still in place. People aren’t sure what’s going to happen with Fed policy or rates or anything else. It is too soon to say we hit a bottom.”
Bernanke and Fed Tapering Together
Federal Reserve Chairmen Ben Bernanke and his $85 billion per month bond buying spree will be tapering down and winding down together. Wednesday’s announcement eliminated speculation about the Fed’s plans. Tapering will begin later this year and the spending spree will conclude in 2014, the same year Bernanke will relinquish the reins.
The news has sent shock waves through global equity markets and created uneasy volatility in currency markets. The move sends a loud message that markets and investors must return to fundamentals. Interest rates will rise, enterprises will be valued by their performance and the Fed will have to start planning to dispose of trillions of dollars of assets. It’s back to the basics and for many it’s about time.
The Fed’s position should not have been a surprise. In his May 22, 2013, meeting, Bernanke set the stage. Equity markets reacted but bounced back. This time, the fall has been faster and deeper.
Currency markets have also reacted strongly. On Thursday, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was down 24/32, yielding 2.4412 percent. The USD reached two-week highs against major currencies and is poised to extend gains on Friday. On Fridy, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.531 percent.
Meanwhile, investors rushed to pull money from emerging economies. The dollar posted a 1.53 percent gain against the yen to 98.28 yen. The dollar pushed the euro to a two-week low at $1.3162. Speculation is that the euro will soon fall below the $1.30 mark.
Disappointing factory output in China had analysts wondering if the government would intercede. China’s economy slowed to the lowest growth rate in 13 year in 2012 and is on pace to shrink further this year.
In Europe, Markit’s Flash Eurozone Composite PIN remained below the trend line for growth in the region. With China’s slowdown and the tapering of US stimulus, prospects for growth in Europe are dim. The Fed’s stimulus had a major impact upon the global marketplace. In overnight trading, political turmoil in Greece pushed 10-year bonds up 70 basis points to an unsustainable 11.4 percent.
Peru’s currency, sol, closed at 2.79 against the USD, it’s lowest close in more than 2 years. The central bank immediately tried to sell 950 billion soles in two-month notes. Currencies in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines experienced large volume pullback, underscoring the fragility of emerging economies.
The dollar got a further boost from improved factory output in the Midwest and from an increase in existing home sales. Against a basket of currencies, the USD reached a two-week high of 82.145, up 0.5 percent. The Australian dollar fell to a 33-month low against the USD. This decline was heavily influenced by China’s nine month low factory report.
Equity Markets. Tremble
On Wednesday and Thursday, the S&P 500 suffered its biggest losses since April. The index fell below its moving 50-day average for just the second day this year. The S&P was 4 percent below the record high of 1,669.16 set the day before Bernanke ‘s May speech.
The Dow Jones shed 293.06 points, nearly 2 percent, settling at 14,819.13 at Thursday’s close. Equities in Europe lost 3 percent. MTSCI’s emerging market index slumped 3.69 percent. The Asian Pacific region outside Japan fell 3.87 percent. MTSCI’s all-country world index lost 2.93 percent, while the FTSEEurofirst 300 index settled at 1,143.99, down 3.07 percent.
On Friday, major equity indexes rallied slightly. The Nasdaq fell for the third straight day. 47 percent of Nasdaq stocks rose on Friday. 10.29 billion shares exchanged hands on the New York Stock Exchange.6.36 million Nasdaq shares were traded.
When trading commenced on Friday, the S&P 500 was off 5 percent from its all-time high reached on May 21. The CBOE Volatility Index fell 8 percent after jumping 23 percent on Thursday.
For the week, the DOW was off 1.8 percent. The S&P 500 was down 2.1 percent and Nasdaq shed 1.9 percent. Nicholas Cage, the chief market analyst At ConvergEx in New York summed up analyst sentiment; “A lot of investors thought the sell-off was overdone after we broke through those technical levels, but all the existential things that drove us down are still in place. People aren’t sure what’s going to happen with Fed policy or rates or anything else. It is too soon to say we hit a bottom.”
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