Global Stocks Surge On Rising Hopes Of Japan "Helicopter Money"
By Tyler Durden
A quick headline search for the phrases “Japan stimulus” and “helicopter money” is all one needs to understand the very familiar reason for today latest overnight global stock rally, which has sent the USDJPY surging some more, in the process pushing the Nikkei higher by 2.5%, China up over 1% (with the help of some late FX intervention by the PBOC), European stocks up 1%, US equity futures up 0.5%, and so on, in what is a global wave of green on the back of the helicopter money which after Bernanke’s visit to Japan, market participants are now convinced is just a matter of time.
As Bloomberg puts it, “global stocks advanced for a fourth day and commodities rose, buoyed by the prospect of stimulus in major economies.” And that is all there is to it.
While risk on assets soared, government bonds sank with the yen, which has now tumbled by over 300 pips since our warning to cover any USDJPY shorts last Thursday, when we previewed precisely these events warning that “something big” was coming. The MSCI All-Country World Index reached its strongest level since June 24, and the yen had its biggest two-day slide since 2014 after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to speed up efforts to defeat deflation. The pound rose for a third day as Home Secretary Theresa May prepared to take over as the U.K.’s next prime minister. Daimler AG led gains in European stocks and credit markets strengthened after earnings that beat analysts’ predictions. U.S. crude rebounded from a two month low.
In case it is still confusing what continues to drive the rally, here are some more hints:
“Risk remains very much on, as central banks around the world are turning more accommodative. That is trumping any fears investors may have concerning global growth,” Societe Generale strategists write in note.
“Risk appetite is in the ascendancy, and as a consequence we are seeing higher-yielding currencies rally and haven currencies including the yen decline,” said Jeremy Stretch at CIBC. “It’s a case of hopes for additional Japanese fiscal stimulus.”
Oh and remember Brexit, and the doomsday warnings should it pass? Well, global equities are now back to where they were when the U.K. voted for Brexit. Since then, futures traders have cut wagers on higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve while Abe won an election and said he would order ministers to begin compiling fresh stimulus. The majority of economists expect the Bank of England to cut interest rates this week and traders are betting there will be further monetary easing in the euro area this year.
And since central banks are once again pushing equities higher, this means that the Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1 percent as of 10:58 a.m. London time, after surging 4.4 percent over the last three trading days. Japan’s Topix climbed 2.4 percent and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.2 percent. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index reached its highest level since August 2015. Futures on the …read more
Source: Global Stocks Surge On Rising Hopes Of Japan "Helicopter Money"
