📆 Thursday, January 9
► European equity markets are little changed (slightly higher), the Stoxx 600 is up 0.15%. GBP fell to its lowest level since October 2023, slipping below $1.23/GBP. Investors remain concerned about the UK's economic outlook and fiscal stability as inflationary pressures and government spending plans weigh heavily on sentiment. The market is on the verge of losing confidence in the country's financial stability as the budget appears to be insufficient with current plans and economic developments. The yield on UK government bonds remains at a multi-decade high, while UK equities remain under selling pressure, exacerbating the general anti-risk sentiment. In other economic news: Germany posted a massive trade surplus of €19.7 billion in November, the highest since August, as exports rose by 2.1% while imports fell by 3.3%. Industrial production in Germany grew by 1.5% MoM, European retail sales fell short of expectations at +0.1% MoM (+0.4% expected).
► US futures are little changed after edging lower on Wednesday. Tech giant Nvidia slipped in post-market trading as reports of further export restrictions on AI chips emerged. Yesterday’s labor data showed a 10K drop in jobless claims to 201K, reflecting continued resilience in the labor market especially following a report that showed much higher than expected job opening (on Tuesday). The US stock markets are closed today for the national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter. Bond markets will close at 20:00 CET (14:00 ET) and normal trading will resume on Friday. After a four-day sell-off, bonds rebounded, signaling a return of demand for global bonds and a possible slight improvement in risk sentiment. This followed strong auctions for 30-year US Treasuries on Wednesday and Japanese government bonds on Thursday. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield fell to a (still high) 4.70%, reflecting renewed investor appetite as yields remain attractive to income-seeking investors.
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