LONDON, Feb 1 —World stocks began the new month on firmer ground, after a volatile January, as reassuring comments from Federal Reserve officials helped to calm rate-hike jitters.
Australia’s central bank also weighed in today. It ended its A$275 billion bond-buying campaign as expected, but pushed back hard on market rate-hike bets. “The equity market sell-off is overdone in our view, and we reiterate our call to buy the dip, particularly in cyclicals and small caps,” JPMorgan analysts said in a note.Tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine have also weighed on risk sentiment in recent weeks, although they lifted oil prices, pushing Brent futures roughly 17 per cent higher so far this year.
That poses a potential headache for ECB policymakers meeting on Thursday since they had said rates are unlikely to rise in 2022.