Morning Note: A Round-up of Global Financial Market News.

Market News

Global stocks wavered as investors paused to assess the durability of the relief rally fuelled by the US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines said it would need confidence that any deal is ‘material’ before restarting crossings. Brent Crude ticked lower to $82 a barrel.

The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to 1%, the highest level since 1995, and signalled that further policy normalisation lies ahead. The Bank also said it would halt the tapering of its Japanese government bond (JGB) purchases from April. The yen, which has remained under pressure even as the BOJ gradually increases borrowing costs, pared gains against the dollar while local bonds fell.

Gold is trading slightly higher at $4,325 an ounce. According to a survey by the World Gold Council, global central banks are removing gold from vaults in London and New York as they are increasingly concerned about storing bullion outside their own borders. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury is 4.47%.

US equities rose last night – S&P 500 (+1.7%); Nasdaq (+3.1%) – although the rally stalled in after-hours trading. In Asia, the main indices were mixed: Nikkei 225 (+0.1%); Hang Seng (-1.8%); Shanghai Composite (-0.1%). China’s retail sales fell for the first time since late 2022 and investment missed estimates, while industrial output slightly beat. The two-speed economy demands “urgent government action,” Bloomberg Economics said

The FTSE 100 is currently 0.3% higher at 10,452, while Sterling trades at $1.3410 and €1.1570.

Nvidia sold $25bn of high-grade bonds in the US, joining the industry’s worldwide dash for cash. The deal was said to have attracted as much as $85bn of orders.

Source: Bloomberg