Financial Markets Daily Report 18 enero 2024
Stronger-than-expected economic data in the US and hawkish comments by ECB officials were the main drivers of a session where sovereign yields rose and equities declined across the board.
Contenido disponible en
- Stronger-than-expected economic data in the US and hawkish comments by ECB officials were the main drivers of a session where sovereign yields rose and equities declined across the board.
- In the US, December retail sales rose by 0.6% (0.3% in November), signaling that private consumption closed 2023 with a positive tone. Also, industrial production edged up by 0.1% against an expectation of a modest decline (-0.1%). In this sense, the Fed’s Beige Book reported little or no change in economic activity in the last quarter.
- In the euro area, ECB’s Klaas Knot said that investors’ rate cuts expectations are excessive and possibly self-defeating, since the easing in financial conditions they cause might hold back actual rate cuts. IMF Director Gita Gopinath reinforced this message suggesting that current market expectations could fuel an inflation flare-up.
- Today the focus will be on the final HICP figures for the euro area.