By Jamie McGeever
ORLANDO, Florida, June 22 (Reuters) – Global stocks were mixed on Monday — optimism over Middle East peace talks lifted Asia and Europe, while tech and interest-rate jitters weighed on Wall Street — as investors also absorbed the resignation of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the death of former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan.
If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today.
1. Alan Greenspan, US Fed ‘maestro’ through years of boom and bust, dies at 100
2. UK’s Starmer resigns, paving way for orderly transfer of power
3. SpaceX turns to bond market to raise capital, reports $100.8 billion cash
4. SK Hynix overtakes Samsung to become South Korea’s most valuable company
5. ECB’s Lagarde urges talks on yuan undervaluation
Today’s Key Market Moves
• STOCKS: Record highs in Japan and China +2%. Colombia -5%. Europe +0.6%, UK +0.7%. Dow slightly higher but S&P 500 -0.4%, Nasdaq -1.3%.
• SECTORS/SHARES: SK Hynix +5% to become South Korea’s most valuable company. Seven S&P 500 sectors rise, four fall. Comms services -4%, consumer discretionary -2%. ‘SOX’ chip index +1% to new high. Super Micro Computer +16%, Micron Technology +7%, Palantir -7%, Alphabet and Amazon -5%.
• FX: Dollar at 1-year high, USD/JPY hits 2-year high just under 162.00. Colombian peso biggest gainer in global FX, +0.8% to highest since January 2021.
• BONDS: U.S. yields spike 5-6 bps higher across the curve, 2-year yield highest in 16 months at 4.23%. 5-year TIPS yield +10 bps.
• COMMODITIES/METALS: Oil down, Brent -3%, WTI -2%. Gold +1%.
Today’s Talking Points
* Yen-tervention, where art thou?
Japan’s yen on Monday sank deeper into the ‘intervention zone’, hitting a two-year low and almost touching 162 per dollar, a level that was last breached 40 years ago. It briefly snapped higher to 161 per dollar, a possible indication of official intervention, but ended U.S. trading around 161.50.
It would appear Japanese authorities have not intervened. This may be puzzling, as Tokyo has previously and recently bought huge quantities of yen around these levels. But with oil down 40% from its May peak, the Nikkei exploding to record highs and the Fed seemingly turning hawkish, perhaps it shouldn’t be.
* Starmer quits
Britain will soon have its seventh prime minister in 10 years. A day from the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum and barely two years after securing a landslide general election victory, Keir Starmer on Monday announced that he intends to step down.
Frontrunner Andy Burnham is expected to replace him, perhaps as early as next month. For markets, the key issues are Burnham’s stance on Britain’s fiscal rules, and his pick for finance minister. Markets are sanguine, at least initially — sterling and UK stocks rose on Monday, gilts were mostly steady.
* Alan Greenspan remembered
Former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan died on Monday, aged 100. He was dubbed ‘the maestro’ by admirers for guiding the U.S. economy and markets through boom times, but also came under heavy fire from critics who pointed to the eponymous ‘Greenspan put’ as evidence he was too in thrall to markets.
Whichever side of that argument you fall on, there’s no debating his towering presence over the Fed and global central banking, not just during the 19 years of his chairmanship, but beyond.
What could move markets tomorrow?
• Developments in the Middle East
• PMIs, including Japan, UK, euro zone, US (June, flash)
• Taiwan export orders (May)
• European Central Bank Vice-President Boris Vujcic speaks
• Bank of England’s Alan Taylor speaks
• U.S. Treasury sells $69 billion of 2-year notes at auction
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
(Reporting by Jamie McGeever)
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