Morning Bid: Sleepy 'uber-bulls'

By Mike Dolan

Feb 17 -

What matters successful U.S. and planetary markets today

By Mike Dolan, Editor-At-Large, Finance and Markets

By the standards of the twelvemonth truthful far, the market-moving quality travel has slowed to a trickle, with satellite markets subdued arsenic Wall Street returns from ‌its three-day weekend.

Meantime, geopolitical attraction shifts to Geneva contiguous arsenic the U.S. and Iran proceed atomic talks.

I’ll get into that and much ‌below.

But first, cheque retired my latest file connected the trade-offs of a 'global euro' for European policymakers.

And perceive to the latest occurrence of the Morning Bid regular podcast. Subscribe to perceive ​Reuters journalists sermon the biggest quality successful markets and concern 7 days a week.

SLEEPY 'UBER-BULLS'

As U.S. markets reopen connected Tuesday, banal futures were somewhat successful the reddish up of the bell, with traders possibly inactive wary of the chaotic AI-related swings successful assorted parts of the tech assemblage past week.

Despite that, the broader temper remains upbeat. Bank of America’s monthly planetary money manager survey for February continues to suggest capitalist sentiment is “uber-bullish” connected the system and net for the twelvemonth - ‌albeit with reddish flags inactive flying astir imaginable overspending ⁠on AI infrastructure.

Elsewhere, planetary stocks were steady. In Asia, the temper was muted successful holiday-thinned trading, with Japan's Nikkei slipping aft yesterday's lower-than-expected GDP print. Those figures showed the Japanese system grew astatine an annualised 0.2% successful the 4th ⁠quarter, good beneath a forecast 1.6% gain.

That weighed connected the yen connected Monday, with the currency easing 0.4% against the dollar aft past week’s astir 3% rise, earlier reversing its losses connected Tuesday.

The U.S. calendar for Tuesday is thin, with the New York Fed's manufacturing survey and NAHB Housing Index the main information releases. U.S. ​Treasuries ​are inactive basking successful the glow of the comparatively benign header CPI ostentation readout ​from Friday.

Later successful the week, investors whitethorn get immoderate further ‌clues connected the Fed's argumentation way from Wednesday's FOMC minutes and Friday's Q4 GDP figures, portion ostentation figures from Canada, the UK and Japan volition assistance soma retired the planetary picture.

In the UK, different emergence successful unemployment to 5.2% - the highest level successful implicit 10 years, not including the pandemic - has excited speculation of different Bank of England involvement complaint chopped adjacent month. Money markets are pricing successful an 80% accidental of a further move.

The lb fell backmost against the euro and dollar, portion the FTSE 100 pushed higher. Two-year gilt yields fell to 18-month lows.