A glimpse of the future from Ray-Vie in European and global markets
Asian markets rallied on Thursday, defying overnight weakness on Wall Street, as confidence in China’s latest stimulus measures received a fresh boost from news of a possible capital injection into its top banks.
Officials are considering paying $142 billion to help big lenders, Bloomberg News reported, two days after policymakers announced a series of measures aimed at pulling the country out of its recession.
While the latest moves point to a sense of urgency among officials as Beijing begins to slip from sight of its 5% annual economic growth target, investors see reason to cheer.
After months of seemingly futile waiting by markets, Chinese officials are finally waking up to the idea that more needs to be done to get the world’s second-largest economy back on track.
China’s blue-chip index reversed early losses after the latest news report, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose about 2%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan hit a two-year high.
That set the tone for a strong start in Europe, with futures posting solid gains during the Asian session.
China aside, the day was already busy for global markets with the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) rate decision followed by a series of speeches from Federal Reserve and European Central Bank officials.
The SNB is expected to cut rates by 25 basis points, marking the third straight cut.
Needless to say, the focus will be on policymakers’ guidance on their respective rate outlooks, with those at the ECB likely to maintain a less bullish posture on rate cuts compared to their US counterparts.
Key developments likely to impact markets on Thursday:
– Swiss National Bank rate decision
– Speeches by Central Bank, ECB policymakers
– US weekly jobless claims
(By Ray Wee; Editing by Edmund Claman)
2024-09-26 10:03:26