Traders currently see a 50 per cent chance of no rate hike at that meeting, with rate cuts priced in for the second half of the year. Early last week, a 25 basis-point hike was fully priced in, with a 70 per cent chance seen of 50 basis points.Short-end yields in the euro zone tumbled again as investors bet the European Central Bank would moderate its policy tightening at Thursday’s meeting, with chances of a Bank of England hike next week also seen receding.
Yunosuke Ikeda, chief equity strategist at Nomura Securities, said the shift to much less aggressive Fed hike expectations has also tempered the outlook for an eventual pivot in Japan away from ultra-low interest rates. The prospect of higher interest rates had been “the reason investors have been really excited about Japan bank stocks,” Ikeda added.Analysts say uncertainty continues to dog the financial sector with investors extremely worried about the health of smaller global banks, the prospect of tighter regulation and a preference to protect depositors at the expense of shareholders should other banks fail.A wave of customers have applied to shift their accounts to large U.S.