A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland
Some respite for Asian stock markets may bode well for the European open, in what has so far been a week to forget for world equities.
Part of that seems to be driven by hopes for strong results from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, aka TSMC, undoing the gloom from Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML’s lacklustre new bookings.
The sentiment shift was evident in Tokyo, where chip-testing equipment maker Advantest – an Nvidia supplier – marched steadily from being down 2.5% at the open to enter the midday recess with a 4% gain.
Notably, U.S. mega tech earnings kick off later on Thursday, starting with Netflix.
Investors were likely also cheered by the promise of more stability in currency markets, after a Japanese official said a G-7 statement would acknowledge that excessive FX swings can hurt economic growth, in a nod to concerns about the effects of the weakest yen in 34 years.
If that helps draw a line on the dollar’s explosive resurgence, it may be felt in Asia most, where the risk of competitive devaluations was simmering. But the effect will ripple across the rest of the world as well, providing some extra bounce for the euro and sterling as they recover from multi-month troughs.
The monetary policy picture globally hasn’t changed though, with bets on the Federal Reserve being the first of the biggest central banks to cut rates this year flipping in recent weeks to them being the last.
The barrage of commentary from global financial leaders continues on Thursday, with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring meetings in Washington, among other major events.
ECB vice-president Luis de Guindos presents the bank’s annual report and his colleagues Joachim Nagel, Isabel Schnabel, Mario Centeno, Gediminas Simkus and Boris Vujcic are also on the podium at various venues.
The Bank of England’s Megan Greene also speaks and has taken a hawkish tone in recent comments, warning of inflation risks from the Middle East and pushing back against bets that rate cuts would come quicker than in the United States.
Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:
-IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington
-TSMC, Netflix earnings
(Editing by Sam Holmes)
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