A take a have a look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Rae Wee
Asian markets rallied on Thursday, defying weakness overnight on Wall Street as optimism over China’s latest stimulus measures got a fresh boost from news of a possible capital injection into its top banks.
Authorities are considering a $142 billion infusion to help big lenders, Bloomberg News reported, just two days after policymakers announced a series of measures intended to pull the country out of its deflationary funk.
While the latest moves point to a way of urgency amongst the various authorities as Beijing’s 5% economic growth goal for the 12 months starts to slip out of sight, investors saw reason to cheer.
After months of seemingly futile waiting by the markets, Chinese authorities finally look like waking as much because the concept quite a bit more should be done to get the world’s second-largest economy back on the right track.
China’s blue-chip index reversed early losses to trade higher 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 scaled a greater than two-year peak.
That set the tone for a robust opening in Europe, with futures posting solid gains in the midst of the Asian session.
China aside, the day was already shaping as much as be a busy one for global markets with a rate decision by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) due alongside a series of speeches by Federal Reserve and European Central Bank officials.
The SNB is predicted to ease rates by 25 basis points, marking its third straight meeting of cuts.
Pointless to say, the fundamental focus is perhaps on policymakers’ guidance on their respective rate outlooks, with those on the ECB more likely to maintain a less hawkish posture on rate cuts compared with their U.S. counterparts.
Key developments that will influence markets on Thursday:
– Swiss National Bank rate decision
– Speeches by Fed, ECB policymakers
– U.S. weekly jobless claims
(By Rae Wee; Editing by Edmund Klamann)