MARKET WRAPS
Stocks:
European markets mostly rose after upbeat export data boosted Chinese stocks, though inflation fears remain.
Stocks have been weighed down by fears about inflation in recent days, stoked by rising energy prices and continued bottlenecks in supply chains.
Investors are trying to gauge the effect this could have on central bank support for the economy and whether the higher costs for raw materials and energy will erode profits as third-quarter earnings season kicks off.
"Equity markets need to incorporate the higher uncertainty on central banks' approaches and the uncertainties on the earnings side," said Antonio Cavarero, head of investments at Generali Insurance Asset Management. "This doesn't mean the tide has turned, but some higher caution is probably the way to go for the next few weeks."
Shares on the move:
French group LVMH shares rose and the conglomerate kicked off the luxury-goods sector's third-quarter reporting season. Read a selection of analysts' comments here .
German software firm SAP rose 3.2% after raising its full-year guidance late Tuesday.
Man Group jumped 6.4% after the listed hedge fund reported a strong performance in the third quarter and said it expected the momentum to carry into the next quarter.
Data in focus:
The U.K. economy grew by 0.4% in August, missing economists' forecast for an expansion of 0.6%. Read a selection of analysts' comments here .
U.S. Markets:
Stock futures ticked down ahead of fresh data on consumer prices and the start of earnings season, both of which are expected to provide insight into whether recent concerns about inflation are warranted.
Data on the consumer price index for September is set to go out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists project that inflation remained at an elevated level, boosted by worker shortages and strained supply chains.
"The Fed will be very sensitive to this number. If it comes very far from market expectations, they will have an incentive to prove they are on top of things," Mr. Cavarero said.
Federal Reserve official Raphael Bostic said Tuesday that there was a risk of inflation being more persistent than expected and that he was on board with an imminent pullback in some stimulus measures. The Fed is expected to publish minutes from its last meeting at 2 p.m., providing investors with more insight into policymakers' views.
Several household-name companies are scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday ahead of the opening bell, including JPMorgan, BlackRock and Delta Air Lines.
"Have we passed the point of the sweet spot-low costs and explosive demand, to a point where demand is softening and costs are picking up? We do expect to see some signs of that starting to emerge," said Sebastian Mackay, a multiasset fund manager at Invesco. "I do believe we'll be in a more rocky patch for equities, where they will be moving sideways or possibly down a little bit."
Forex:
Danske Bank lowered its 12-month forecast for the euro versus the dollar to $1.10 from $1.13 previously. This compares to a current EUR/USD level of 1.1559.
"This reflects our view that market themes are increasingly pro dollar," Danske Bank analyst Lars Merklin said.
The recovery in global manufacturing is "clearly slowing" but central banks need to tighten monetary policy to curb inflation, which is negative for EUR/USD, he said.
Meanwhile, the Fed is likely to announce a tapering of asset purchases in the fourth quarter, which will highlight its monetary policy divergence with the European Central Bank and dent EUR/USD, he said.
The dollar fell after rising strongly on Tuesday as investors look ahead to U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes later for clues on the central bank's next policy steps.
The DXY dollar index dropped 0.1% to 94.4130 after rising to a one-year high of 94.5610 on Tuesday. A narrowing of the spread between short-term and long-term U.S. Treasury yields on Tuesday allowed the safe-haven dollar to "maintain its upward momentum aided by risk hedging buying ahead of U.S. inflation data tonight and nervousness about growth outlooks in the third quarter earnings season releases," Oanda analyst Jeffrey Halley said.
Sterling was little moved after U.K. economic growth data missed forecasts but could fall later if the figures prompt the market to scale back interest rate rise expectations, Silicon Valley Bank said.
The U.K. economy grew 0.4% month-on-month in August, below the 0.6% growth expected by economists in a WSJ survey. The miss will stoke concerns about slower growth combined with high inflation, or stagflation, Silicon's vice president Sam Cooper said.
"While sterling was largely unchanged in the immediate aftermath, any indication that the miss could cast doubts on expectations for the Bank of England to raise interest rates in the near future will see the pound come under pressure."
Bonds:
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note held steady at 1.578% Wednesday, from 1.579% Tuesday.
A higher-than-expected increase in consumer prices in the U.S. in September could upset equities and spill into high-yield corporate bonds, said UniCredit.
"An adverse reaction in equities is also likely to adversely affect the high-yield market, which suffered again yesterday," analysts at the bank said. They added that the iBoxx high yield nonfinancial corporate bond index widened five basis points to 295 bps Tuesday, the highest level since March.
In their view, any spread widening in either investment-grade or the high-yield corporate bonds should nonetheless be contained due to a supportive technical backdrop of falling new-bond supply and bond-buying by the European Central Bank. U.S. Sept.
Commodities:
Oil prices stabilized following a report that suggested Iran nuclear talks could recommence as soon as this week, prompting some traders to price in a potential higher supply of crude to the market.
Tempered demand due to the sharp rise in energy prices may also be contributing to the stabilization, according to Mr. Mackay. "We are probably entering the stage where prices have moved up so quickly that we are now getting a demand response, people are reining in spending and that starts to balance the market a little bit," he said.
European benchmark natural gas prices were up 6.6% at EUR91.37 per megawatt hour, with the recent price drivers going nowhere.
The idea of insufficient energy expenditure features prominently in the IEA's World Energy Outlook released early Wednesday, in which the watchdog said that while oil and gas spending was "one of the very few areas that is reasonably well-aligned,"--with the levels necessary for net-zero emissions by 2050--clean-energy spending needs to triple in order to avoid the risk of more energy market turbulence. OPEC's monthly report is due later Wednesday.
Base metals rose across the board after Chinese exports rose at a faster-than-expected pace last month, despite concerns about supply bottlenecks and power shortages. Three-month copper on the LME was up 0.9% at $9,539.50 a metric ton while aluminum gained 1.3% to $3,107 a ton and nickel rose 1.3% to $19,200 a ton.
China's exports rose 28.1% last month, a quicker pace than in August and more than economists had been expecting, suggesting strong economic activity in the world's second-largest economy. Imports missed expectations, but copper imports rose, snapping five consecutive months of decline and lifting hopes about demand for the red metal.
Gold prices ticked higher ahead of U.S. CPI data which should offer clues into the Fed's plans for tapering and interest rates.
EMEA HEADLINES
SAP Shares Rise Amid Continuing Cloud Push
Shares in Germany's SAP SE rose Wednesday as its cloud business continued to grow in the last quarter, prompting the business-software giant to raise targets for the third time this year.
At 0855 GMT, SAP shares traded 5% higher at EUR122.74.
LVMH 3Q Sales Rose at Steady Pace
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE's third-quarter sales rose at the same rate seen earlier in the year, driven by Asia and the United States.
Sales for the three months to the end of September came to 15.51 billion euros ($17.92 billion), 11% higher than in the same period of pre-pandemic 2019, the French luxury-goods group said Tuesday. The increase is the same booked in the first half of the year.
UK Economy Grew Slower Than Expected in August
The U.K. economy grew modestly in August, fueled by services and North Sea oil-and-gas production.
Gross domestic product expanded 0.4% compared with July, the Office for National Statistics said, short of the 0.7% expansion economists were expecting. The data add to signs the global economy lost momentum in the third quarter, as the pandemic and logistics headaches squeezed activity.
Eurozone Industrial Production Declined in August Due to Supply Constraints
Eurozone industrial production fell in August due to supply-chain bottlenecks and slowing global trade, Eurostat data released Wednesday showed.
Output from factories, mines and utilities across the single-currency area in August fell 1.6% from the previous month, the European Union statistics agency said. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 1.7% decline.
Barratt Developments' 1Q Forward Sales Rose, New CFO Incoming
Barratt Developments PLC said Wednesday that total forward sales rose 7.9% at the start of fiscal 2022, and named a new chief financial officer.
The U.K. house builder said its order book stood at 3.94 billion pounds ($5.35 billion) as of Oct. 10, up from GBP3.65 billion a year earlier and representing 15,393 homes, up from 15,135.
Centrica Says Performance in Line With Views; Well Hedged for Winter and Beyond
Centrica PLC said Wednesday that performance since July has been in line with expectations, and that it is well hedged for the coming winter and beyond.
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10-13-21 0648ET
