🤑 It doesn’t get more affordable. Grab this 60% OFF Black Friday offer before it disappears…CLAIM SALE

GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares and dollar recover, Italy markets set for big weekly loss

Published 2018-05-25, 06:08 a/m
© Reuters.  GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares and dollar recover, Italy markets set for big weekly loss
EUR/USD
-
IT40
-
JP225
-
SOGN
-
DE10YT=RR
-
US10YT=X
-
IT10YT=RR
-
KS11
-
STOXX
-
VIX
-
MIAPJ0000PUS
-
DXY
-
SXAP
-

* World shares steady but set for second weekly loss

* Italian assets stay under pressure from political risk

* Turkey lira resumes slide, dollar resumes rise

By Sujata Rao

LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - World shares steadied and the dollar resumed its rise on Friday after a wobble caused by U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to cancel a summit with North Korea, though political risk put Italian markets on track for heavy weekly losses.

Markets were soothed somewhat by the Pyongyang's measured response to Trump's announcement, with Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan expressing hope for a "Trump formula" to resolve the standoff over its nuclear programme Korea tensions aside, markets' appetite for risk was kept in check by concern over Italy's president opposing the incoming coalition government's plan to appoint a politically inexperienced eurosceptic as economy minister. all-country equity index .MNIWD00000PUS was flat after three days of losses which put it on track for its second straight week in the red, while non-Japanese Asian equities .MIAPJ0000PUS also eked out 0.1 percent gains.

The Seoul index .KS11 pared falls of almost one percent to trade down 0.2 percent and the Korean won also firmed 0.3 percent to the dollar KRW= .

But despite Thursday's Wall Street declines, there were no immediate signs of a broad sell-off with Wall Street's volatility index .VIX ending at a four-month low.

"Market reaction to heightened political risk remains reasonably muted. If they are not global events affecting large swathes of countries in a major way, the calculation is that the impact will be limited," Indosuez Wealth Management global head of economic research Marie Owens Thomsen said.

She cited the example of Turkey and Italy where a stock and bond sell-off has not spilled much into other emerging economies or peripheral euro zone states such as Spain or Portugal.

European shares opened firmer .STOXX .FTMIB but looked set for their first weekly drop since March, pressured by the Italy worries and signs the euro bloc's economic recovery continues to run out of steam.

Italian stocks, which saw record outflows in the past week, fell 0.3 percent and were set for their third straight week of losses .FTMIB

European carmakers' shares .SXAP which fell heavily after Trump mooted possible tariff increases on imported cars, bounced after the comments drew criticism from U.S. business groups and members of his own party.

However, worry about Italy kept the euro under pressure. It fell 0.15 percent against the dollar, putting it on track for the sixth straight week of losses EUR=EBS , while the Swiss franc, traditionally seen as a safe-haven, is set for a fourth consecutive weekly gain against the single currency EURCHF= .

Also on the upside, the dollar rebounded 0.25 percent after touching two-week lows versus a basket of currencies .DXY on Thursday. However, it held under this week's five-month highs.

The yen, another currency deemed to be a safe-haven asset, slipped 0.2 percent against the dollar, reversing gains seen after the summit cancellation. JPY=D3

"The euro continues to be under pressure especially against the franc as Italian/German spreads are widening but markets are taking a wait-and-see approach for now," Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) strategist Alvin Tan said, referring to the premium investors demand to hold Italian bonds compared with safer German Bunds.

The spread on 10-year respective bonds widened on Friday to 200 basis points (bps), having widened 30 bps this week. IT10YT=RR DE10YT=RR

German 10-year fell about 2 bps, tracking U.S. Treasuries where yields touched near two-week lows on Thursday.

For Europe, another potential headache are signs its growth recovery is running out of steam. Some relief on this front was provided by Germany's Ifo business confidence index which held steady this month after falling for five straight months. this week's PMI business surveys indicated growth was slowing, with expansion at a 20-month low in Germany. UK data meanwhile confirmed first quarter growth at a lacklustre 0.1 percent. U.S. capital goods orders data due later in the day, Treasury yields stayed well off this month's seven-year highs. US10YT=RR

"For many Asian markets, rises in U.S. bond yields would have been a bigger problem (than cancellation of the meeting between Trump and Kim)," Daiwa Securities senior strategist Yukino Yamada said.

Worries that investors could shift assets from emerging markets to higher-yielding U.S. bonds have been a major headwind for emerging markets this year.

Among them, Turkey has been the worst hit over concerns about the central bank's ability to tame double-digit inflation because of political pressure from President Tayyip Erdogan, a self-described "enemy of interest rates". Turkish lira has given up most of the gains made after the central bank's emergency 300 bps rate rise on Wednesday and stood at flat against the dollar. It has fallen almost 15 percent this month.?

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ MSCI, Nikkei datastream chart

http://reut.rs/2sSBRiD

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.