Team No Comments

Weekly Market Commentary | US Consumer Price Index data release to be closely watched by markets

Please see below for Brooks MacDonald’s latest market update, received by us yesterday evening 07/06/2021:

  • Last Friday’s US jobs report missed expectations but the figures were welcomed by markets
  • With the EU vaccination programme progressing well, this week’s European Central Bank (ECB) meeting will be closely watched
  • US Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Thursday is arguably the most important data release so far in 2021

Last Friday’s US jobs report missed expectations but the figures were welcomed by markets

Equities ended the week strongly, despite the US jobs report coming in behind expectations. Growth equities were a particular beneficiary after the non-farm payroll report was released on Friday.

The May US employment report missed expectations but only mildly compared to the miss in April’s figures. May saw c.559,000 new jobs created on a headline basis and c.496,000 of those within the private sector1. Describing the gain, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Mester said that while the figures were positive, they fell short of substantial further progress which is the bar set by the Federal Reserve to consider tapering2. Beneath the numbers, the labour force participation rate fell, which may suggest that there is some hesitancy to return to workplaces or that stimulus measures have reduced the need to return to the workforce short term. The jobs report saw US 10-year Treasury yields fall as market participants priced in a slightly slower than expected recovery, which is showing fewer signs of acute labour shortages. It is those labour shortages that are particularly relevant given their role in driving supply side inflation as employers compete for workers.

With the EU vaccination programme progressing well, this week’s European Central Bank (ECB) meeting will be closely watched

This week’s main event is undoubtedly the US CPI number on Thursday, and this arguably represents the most important data release so far in 2021. Consensus estimates point to a 0.4% month-on-month increase in both the headline and core inflation rate, which would mean that core US inflation would move to 3.4% year-on-year3. This would be the highest level of core inflation since 19934. Of course, the massive reduction in economic activity last year skews these figures and this release, alongside June’s, sees a substantial uptick in inflation due to this ‘base effect’ alone. Thursday also sees the ECB’s meeting where the central bank, under less inflation pressure than the US, is likely to continue with its faster pace of asset purchases, for the short term at least. As the EU vaccination drive continues to gain momentum, an exit of this pandemic quantitative easing programme may be on the cards but probably not until the last quarter of this year.

US Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Thursday is arguably the most important data release so far in 2021

The US CPI number will be very closely watched by markets, not only for the core inflation figure but also what is driving the subcomponents. Last month, used cars were an outsized contributor to the figures but investors will be looking for signs of a broader increase in price pressures.

Please continue to utilise these blogs and expert insights to keep your own holistic view of the market up to date.

Keep safe and well

Paul Green DipFA

08/06/2021

Team No Comments

Equities slide on rising Covid-19 infections

Please see below for Brewin Dolphin’s latest markets in a minute article, received by us yesterday evening 27/04/2021:

Most major stock markets declined last week on fears that rising Covid-19 infections could hinder economic recovery.

With Europe firmly in the grip of the so-called ‘third wave’, the pan-European STOXX 600 ended the week down 0.8%, while Germany’s Dax fell 1.2% and France’s CAC 40 declined 0.5%. The UK’s FTSE 100 slid 1.2%, with positive economic data failing to lift investors’ spirits.

Rising infections also weighed on Japan’s Nikkei, which dropped 2.2% after the country reported nationwide daily infections of more than 5,000 for the first time in three months. This led to another state of emergency being declared in several prefectures.

US stock markets posted small declines last week after President Joe Biden announced proposals to nearly double taxes on capital gains for those earning more than $1m a year. In contrast, Chinese stock markets posted solid gains following strong inflows from Hong Kong via the Stock Connect trading programme.

Last week’s markets performance*

  • FTSE 100: -1.2%
  • S&P 500: -0.1%
  • Dow: -0.5%
  • Nasdaq: -0.3%
  • Dax: -1.2%
  • Hang Seng: +0.4%
  • Shanghai Composite: +1.4%
  • Nikkei: -2.2%

* Data from close on Friday 16 April to close of business on Friday 23 April.

European stocks gain on travel plans

UK and European stocks rose on Monday after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told the New York Times that inoculated Americans will be able to visit the EU in the summer. The STOXX 600 added 0.3% and the FTSE rose 0.4%, with shares in easyJet, Ryanair and TUI all posting strong gains.

In the US, the Dow slipped 0.2% whereas the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 0.2% and 0.9%, respectively. Tesla started a busy week of corporate earnings statements, reporting a 74% surge in quarterly revenues. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Boeing and Ford are all due to release first quarter results this week.

HSBC and BP were in focus at the start of trading on Tuesday, with the former posting a 79% rise in first quarter pre-tax profit, and the latter receiving an earnings bump from higher oil prices and a surge in revenue from natural gas trading. The FTSE 100 opened flat ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting.

UK economy shows signs of rebound

Last week saw the release of several pieces of economic data that suggest the UK economy is starting to rebound from the Covid-19 crisis. Friday’s IHS Markit/CIPS flash composite PMI showed a strong revival in private sector output following the downturn seen at the start of 2021. The index rose to 60.0 in April from 56.4 in March – the strongest overall rise in private sector output since November 2013.

For the first time since the pandemic began, service activity growth outperformed manufacturing production growth. The service sub-index rose from 56.3 to 60.1, marking the fastest pace of expansion for more than sixand-a-half years. The manufacturing sub-index increased from 58.9 to 60.7, the highest since July 1994.

Separate data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed UK retail sales volumes continued to recover in March, increasing by 5.4% from the previous month. This reflected the easing of Covid-19 restrictions on consumer spending. Sales were 1.6% higher than in February 2020 – the month before the pandemic struck.

UK retail sales surge 5.4% in March

Non-food stores provided the largest positive contribution to the monthly growth, with increases of 17.5% and 13.4% in clothing stores and other non-food stores, respectively. Fuel retailers reported monthly growth of 11.1%.

However, the ONS said retail sales for the quarter were subdued overall. In the three months to March, sales fell by 5.8% when compared with the previous three months because of tighter lockdown restrictions.

US economy moving to post-pandemic state

Last week’s flurry of US corporate earnings reports suggest the economy is starting to transition to life after the pandemic. Most notably, Netflix announced it had added just under four million subscribers in the first quarter – missing its forecast of six million. The company said it expected one million paid net additions for the second quarter – versus ten million in the second quarter of 2020, when it benefitted from a surge in demand at the beginning of the crisis.

Elsewhere, figures showed US weekly jobless claims fell to their lowest level since the onset of the pandemic, declining by 39,000 to 547,000 in the week ending 17 April. This was far better than the 617,000 figure. forecast by analysts.

US existing home sales declined by 3.7% between February and March to a seven-month low, largely because of the acute shortage of houses on the market. Compared with a year ago, when home sales first started to fall when the pandemic hit, sales were 12.3% higher. Limited supply and strong demand pushed the median existing home sales price by a record-breaking annual pace of 17.2% to an historic high of $329,100, the National Association of Realtors said.

Eurozone manufacturing enjoys record boom

Over in the eurozone, business activity in April experienced its fastest rate of increase since July 2020, thanks to record expansion in manufacturing output and a return to growth in the service sector. The composite PMI rose from 53.2 in March to 53.7 in April, according to IHS Markit’s preliminary ‘flash’ reading, which is based on around 85% of final responses to the survey.

Manufacturing output grew for a tenth straight month, expanding at a rate unsurpassed in more than two decades of survey history. The service sector continued to lag because of Covid-19 restrictions in many member states, but still reported the first expansion of activity since August 2020, rising from 49.6 in March to 50.3 in April.

Please continue to utilise these blogs and expert insights to keep your own holistic view of the market up to date.

Keep safe and well.

Paul Green DipFA

28/04/2021

Team No Comments

Brooks MacDonald Weekly Market Commentary 01/03/2021

Please see below for Brooks MacDonald’s latest weekly market commentary received by us late afternoon 01/03/2021:

In Summary:

  • Yield rises remain the major driver of equity markets
  • Johnson & Johnson’s single shot vaccine is approved in the US, adding to the breadth of vaccine supply
  • Israel eases some restrictions as the UK is set to lay out its reopening plans

Yield rises remain the major driver of equity markets

Last week saw a large uptick in volatility as higher yields caused a sell-off in markets that focused on secular growth sectors such as technology. Meanwhile, previously unloved sectors such as banks performed strongly on the back of steepening yield curves and lower expected defaults in the future as the economy recovers.

Johnson & Johnson’s single shot vaccine is approved in the US, adding to the breadth of vaccine supply

The theme of the last few days has been a tightening of restrictions, rather than loosening, as several European countries needed to roll back liberties and Auckland, New Zealand entered a fresh lockdown. More positively, the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine has been approved in the US with the company saying they can ship 100 million doses in H1 2021. While the efficacy data was less compelling for the J&J vaccine, it is recommended as a single dose vaccine which makes the rollout of logistics simpler.

The change in yields has had an outsized impact on technology companies

The ‘price’ of a financial asset is the sum of its future cashflows adjusted for a discount rate. In practice this means the sum of a company’s future earnings which are adjusted for interest rates plus an extra company specific risk premium on top. Value companies tend to produce higher earnings now but less exciting earnings in the future. Growth companies, by contrast, produce little now but are expected to make outsized earnings in the future. Because the earnings in growth companies tend to be further away, the discount rate is more important. Due to the power of compounding, a small change in interest rates can significantly reduce the present value of future earnings 10 or 20 years away. This is exactly what happened last week when a pickup in interest rate expectations caused high growth companies to look less attractive. The moves were relatively small, with the US 10 year rising around 7bps to just over 1.4% but with valuations richer in the technology space, this was enough to catalyse a sell-off.

Of course, the question is whether central banks will let further yield rises happen. So far, the Federal Reserve have pushed back against expectations for sustained inflation but have broadly welcomed the pickup in yields, saying it is reflective of an improved economic backdrop. The next Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting is on 16-17 March, however this week we hear from a series of members including Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Should rapid rises in yields continue to be a theme, we expect the Federal Reserve to step in, at least verbally, to steady further rises. Yield rises can impact both financial stability and damage the economic recovery so central banks will be paying close attention.

Please continue to utilise these blogs and expert insights to keep your own holistic view of the market up to date.

Keep safe and well

Paul Green DipFA

01/03/2021