As the European and London traders head toward the close, stocks have moved lower, yield are higher and so is are oil prices.
The markets are anxious about the Fed with the chance of a hike up to about 35% as Fed Chair Warsh (and the Fed voters) ponder the “for” and “against” choices
Recall at the last meeting the Fed Chair was more hawkish and the 2 year has reacted appropriately with a move higher. Looking at the the European stock market, major indices closed mostly lower today as the selling pressure in AI, semiconductor and other technology shares continued to weigh on sentiment ahead of this afternoon’s Federal Reserve decision. The UK’s FTSE 100 bucked the trend with a modest gain, helped by strength in defensive and commodity-related stocks, while Spain’s IBEX 35 led the declines.
A snapshot of the market shows: Germany (DAX): 25,448.77, -15.25 points (-0.06%) France (CAC 40): 8,408.28, -50.51 points (-0.60%) UK (FTSE 100): 10,908.40, +37.39 points (+0.34%) Spain (IBEX 35): 19,390.30, -336.70 points (-1.71%) Italy (FTSE MIB): 51,443.10, -255.08 points (-0.49%) The benchmark 10 year European bond yields moved higher across the board as traders remained cautious ahead of the Fed decision and continued to price in the possibility that interest rates will stay higher for longer. Italy and the UK saw the largest increases in yields. Germany 10-year: 3.156%, +4.0 bps France 10-year: 3.955%, +6.0 bps UK 10-year: 5.036%, +8.2 bps Spain 10-year: 3.622%, +6.3 bps Italy 10-year: 3.999%, +9.0 bps U.S. stocks are also trading sharply lower with the Dow down more than 800 points and the Nasdaq lower by over 1%.