Contracts on the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 climbed 0.9% after early-week gains unravelled Monday on Apple Inc.’s plans to slow hiring to brace for a potential economic downturn. The Stoxx Europe 600 traded little changed after erasing an earlier loss.
Signs that high inflation and monetary tightening are squeezing consumers and employment could feed into worries that an equity revival since mid-June is merely brief. Corporate updates such as Apple’s are helping markets to calibrate the risk of recession. Netflix Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Lockheed Martin Corp. headline another busy day for earnings.
“Inflation and its detrimental effect on consumers’ pockets and corporate margins is yet to be fully seen,” Mizuho International Plc strategists Peter McCallum and Evelyne Gomez-Liechti wrote in a note to clients. “Until then, we don’t expect investors to feel properly comfortable buying on dips other than in the most defensive names.”
Investor allocation to stocks plunged to levels last seen in October 2008 while exposure to cash surged to the highest since 2001, according to Bank of America Corp.’s monthly fund manager survey.
Meanwhile, the euro rose to its highest level in about two weeks after Bloomberg News reported the European Central Bank may consider raising interest rates on Thursday by double the quarter-point outlined previously to counter worsening inflation.
German bunds fell, while benchmark Treasuries traded little changed after paring gains following the report.
Markets are pricing in about 38 basis points of tightening on Thursday, when the ECB is expected to raise rates for the first time in more than a decade. That reflects about a 50/50 chance of a 50-basis point increase. An outsized hike would put the ECB more in line with global peers moving up their policy rates at warp speed.
The ECB is under pressure to subdue inflation, but the potential for a Russian gas shutdown could plunge Europe into recession. The European Union is preparing to tell members to cut gas consumption “immediately” to preserve supplies for winter, according to a report.
European stocks could slump another 10% if Russia cuts off gas to the region, triggering a recession, according to Citigroup Inc. strategists. A halt of Russian gas supplies could potentially reduce the euro area’s gross domestic product by about 1%, which would imply a 10% contraction in European earnings-per-share over the next 12 months, according to Citi.
Oil slipped but held above $100 a barrel after posting the biggest one-day advance since May, aided by a tightening market and a cooling in dollar gains.
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Key events to watch this week:
- Earnings this week include Netflix, Tesla
- US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits South Korea. Tuesday
- Reserve Bank of Australia releases July minutes. Tuesday
- UK Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey speak at event. Tuesday
- Bloomberg Crypto Summit in New York. Tuesday
- Bank of Japan, European Central Bank rate decisions. Thursday
- Nord Stream 1 pipeline scheduled to reopen following maintenance. Thursday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 6:43 a.m. New York time
- Futures on the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%
- The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.2%
- The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7%
- The euro rose 1.1% to $1.0253
- The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.2019
- The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 137.57 per dollar
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.99%
- Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 1.26%
- Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.13%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $101.77 a barrel
- Gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,712.20 an ounce
–With assistance from Garfield Reynolds, Sunil Jagtiani and Ven Ram.
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