Global shares rise as Fed-induced jitters ease

WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – Wall Street rebounded on Monday and global shares rose from a four-week low as investors banked on economic growth, while the U.S. dollar retreated from Friday’s 10-week high and the yield curve flattened.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries turned higher after sliding to a four-month low of 1.354%. But the benchmark note was still trading well below its recent mid-point range of about 1.6% after traders reacted to Federal Reserve expectations for a rate hike.

Shares of banks, energy firms and other companies that tend to be sensitive to the economy’s fluctuations recovered after have fallen sharply since the Fed’s meeting on Wednesday, when the central bank caught investors off guard by anticipating two quarter-percentage-point rate increases in 2023.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 recovered much of the losses seen at the tail-end of last week as investors re-positioned portfolios after last week’s surprise hawkish shift by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones adding 1.75% and the S&P gaining 1.36% by 2:19 p.m. EDT (1919GMT). The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.81%[.N]

“Inflation is not running out of control and in fact we think economic growth will come in better than expected,” said Monica DiCenso, global investment specialist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.

“If so, this suggests that equity multiples could be lower than people think and therefore we shouldn’t be scared about even adding to equities at these levels both in the United States and overseas.”

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.70% and MSCI’s All Country World Index was up 0.72%, recovering some of Friday’s losses after touching its lowest since May 24 earlier in the session.

Asia shares were under pressure, with Japan’s Nikkei led declines with an over 3% drop, dipping below 28,000 for the first time in a month. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1%.

While last week’s Fed meeting took focus, the message from G-7 leaders warranted investor attention, said Christopher Smart, chief global strategist at Barings Investment Institute.

“The consensus at the G-7 leaders meeting (was) the world’s richest economies will continue to spend, spend, spend on renewing infrastructure, on redressing inequality and on fighting climate change,” Smart said.

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.424%, off Friday’s 10-week high of 92.408 as investors weighed whether the Fed’s stance will mean a pause in the greenback’s bear trend.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard further fueled the sell-off on Friday by saying the shift toward faster policy tightening was a “natural” response to economic growth and particularly inflation moving quicker than anticipated as the country reopens from the coronavirus pandemic.

Several Fed officials have speaking duties this week, including Chair Jerome Powell, who testifies before Congress on Tuesday. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaks before the European Parliament on Monday.

“We believe there is a limit to how much more hawkish the Fed can be given its inflation projections relative to the catch-up rates range,” BlackRock analysts said in a note.

“Our bottom line: We believe the Fed’s new outlook will not translate into significantly higher policy rates any time soon.”

The euro rose 0.43%. Sterling recovered some ground, to trade 0.9% higher after sliding to its lowest since April 16. [GBP/]

A stronger greenback has pressured cryptocurrencies, with bitcoin falling nearly 9%, while smaller rival ether lost 14.16%.

Forecasts for Brazilian growth, inflation and interest rates in 2021 rose to new highs, a survey of economists showed on Monday, following the central bank’s third rate hike last week.

In commodities, gold added 1.1% to $1,783.29 an ounce, looking to snap a six-day losing streak, but remained near the lowest since early May. U.S. gold futures gained 0.98% to $1,781.80 an ounce.

Copper steadied on Monday, up from its lowest level since mid-April, after moves by China to rein in commodities price rallies and the hawkish signals from the Fed. Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up after falling to $9,011 earlier in the day. [MET/L]

Crude oil rose, underpinned by demand. Brent crude futures were at $74.77, up 1.71% on the day, as U.S. crude rose 2.5% to $73.43 per barrel [O/R]

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