LONDON - World stocks held near two-week highs on Wednesday as investors bet on a worldwide wave of central bank stimulus, with expectations building that the United States and the euro zone may deliver interest rate cuts as early as July.
However, German and U.S. bond yields which hit record lows and two-year lows respectively after the speech, inched higher to trade just off those levels. European shares too slipped off six-week highs, and Wall Street futures indicated a slightly weaker open. “Of course the other question is: What is the Fed doing? If the Fed takes the fundamental risk of political pressure seriously, they cannot do anything today,” he said, noting that President Donald Trump’s strident calls for lower interest rates posed a dilemma for the Fed.
Futures are almost fully priced for a quarter-point easing in July and imply more than 60 basis points of cuts by Christmas. “Markets will be looking for validation of this pricing,” he added. “We think this represents a fairly high bar for the Fed to deliver a dovish surprise.”BofA Merrill Lynch’s latest fund manager survey spoke volumes about the sea change in sentiment. It showed investors were dumping stocks and had upped bond allocations to nearly eight-year highs. They also had crowded into safe-haven U.S. Treasury bonds and cash.