Stocks

BLOOMBERG Chinese banking stocks are surfing a tide of optimism not seen since the nation’s 2015 equity bubble, as traders look to state lenders to galvanise a long-awaited market rally. The CSI 300 Financials Index jumped for a fifth session to reach its highest level since April 2022, adding $166 billion in market value in the process. The gains were ...

BLOOMBERG  The stock market was set for a rebound at the end of a chaotic week, with a rally in regional banks tempering data showing jobs resilience. Treasury yields rose with the dollar. S&P 500 futures signalled the equity benchmark will climb after its longest losing streak since February. PacWest Bancorp soared, following a six-day selloff that saw its shares ...

BLOOMBERG  Investors are likely to favour gold and technology stocks as those bets are expected to provide a buffer against the possibility of a US recession this year, according to strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. The trade defined as “long duration” is expressed by being overweight on gold, growth stocks such as technology companies and currencies (short USD), strategists ...

BLOOMBERG European stocks retreated and US equity futures wobbled after Australia’s unexpected interest-rate increase deepened conviction that US and European central banks push ahead with policy tightening to stamp out inflation. The Stoxx 600 index slipped as much as 0.4%, held down by growth-sensitive sectors such as energy and real estate. HSBC Holdings Plc bucked the decline after a profit ...

BLOOMBERG As Wall Street economists and central bankers debate if and when the US economy will slip into a recession, big money managers aren’t waiting to find out. Increasingly, professional stock pickers are shifting money out of economically sensitive shares like banks while parking it in stocks seen as resilient during  economic downturns, such as utilities and consumer staples. Hedge ...

BLOOMBERG The biggest swings in bonds in more than a decade this year are a fresh challenge to the time-honoured 60/40 investment strategy. Holding 60% of portfolios in stocks and 40% in bonds, revered as reliable for decades, fell 17% last year, the worst performance since 2008. While it’s unlikely such a dismal result will be repeated this year, some ...

BLOOMBERG Stock market investors holding on to hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut rates in the second half could be disappointed later this week, according to Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson — a staunch Wall Street bear. The US central bank is expected to hike interest rates on May 3, marking the 10th consecutive increase going back to March 2022. ...

BLOOMBERG US equity futures retreated as a rally in tech stocks lost steam and persistent inflationary pressures cemented expectations for higher rates in the US and Europe. Treasuries advanced. Contracts on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 slipped as Amazon.com Inc’s warning after the market close on growth in its key cloud computing business soured the mood. Treasuries recouped ...

BLOOMBERG Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp have never held more sway over the S&P 500 Index, leaving some investors on edge over the gauge’s increasingly top-heavy nature. The world’s two most-valuable companies saw their combined weightings in the benchmark jump to a record 14% after strong earnings reports from Microsoft and others fuelled a rally in technology stocks. When you ...

BLOOMBERG Confidence is in short supply among Chinese investors these days, confounding analysts who say reasons to own the market are finally coming true. The MSCI China Index’s valuations are shrinking and 12-month rolling returns are negative, a sign investors are pricing in an earnings contraction. Recession-proof trades are gaining traction, with a defensive strategy of buying dividend payers suddenly ...