Global equity funds led investment inflows in the week to Feb. 17, as fund investors favoured riskier assets on optimism over the coronavirus vaccine roll-outs and expectations of a massive U.S. stimulus package.
Yields rise further on Friday PMIs expected to set Friday’s market tone
AMSTERDAM, Feb 19 (Reuters) - German benchmark 10-year bond yields were set for their worst week since June, driven up by expectations of reflation in the United States, which has caused a surge in global bond yields.
On Friday, Germany’s 10-year yield, the benchmark for the euro area, was up 2 basis points to -0.32%, hitting its highest since June. The yield rose 11 basis points this week, its biggest weekly jump since mid-June.
The 30-year yield, which tends to be even more sensitive to the reflation bets, was up similarly in its biggest weekly rise since August.
Forecast no change in benchmark rate through Q1 2024 Rate-setters stressed risks of reducing stimulus too soon Ready to act if needed (Adds background, additional c.bank quote)
STOCKHOLM, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Sweden’s central bank will do what is needed to support the economy through the pandemic and could cut the benchmark interest rate if necessary, the minutes of its most recent policy meeting, published on Friday, showed.
After a relatively swift recovery from the first outbreak of the pandemic - GDP only shrank about 2.8% in 2020 - Sweden’s economy has slowed again in recent months due to a fresh wave of infections that hit in the autumn.
The latest lockdown wave which started late last year is having an even bigger impact on consumer spending than expected. It goes to show how hopes for a rapid economic recovery and "reflation" may be some way off for the hardest hit sectors.
A gauge of global equity markets snapped a three-day losing streak to inch higher on Friday as investors sold technology shares and rotated into economically sensitive cyclical stocks in anticipation the U.S. economy will boom on pent-up demand once the coronavirus pandemic.