Financial Times (February 22)
“The benchmark Nikkei 225 index finally broke through its “iron coffin lid” to surpass its long-standing record 1989 closing price of 38,915 points, which was set when 15 of the world’s largest companies by market cap were Japanese. “The Nikkei has risen 16.6 per cent since the start of the year, making it the world’s best-performing major index, as a falling yen lures foreign investors” and strengthens the performance of exporters.”
Tags: 1989, 38, 915 points, Benchmark, Best-performing, Falling yen, Foreign investors, Index, Japan, Market-cap, Nikkei 225, Performance, Record, Surpass
Washington Post (March 21)
“The aim of setting the cap on Russian crude at $60, roughly 20 percent below the main international benchmark price, was to whittle away at Russia’s cash hoard while still providing it with sufficient incentive to maintain exports and keep global oil markets stable. It is now time to lower the Western cap further, in increments, to $40 per barrel or less.”
Tags: $40, $60, Aim, Barrel, Benchmark, Cap, Crude, Exports, Incentive, Oil markets, Russia, Stable, Sufficient, Western
Financial Times (January 14)
“Since the Bank of Japan stunned markets by widening the band of its yield curve control (YCC) policy on December 20, markets feel things are now moving tectonically for one of the developed world’s most unorthodox financial regimes.” At long last, the ‘widow-maker’ trade “is making money. On Friday and for the first time in almost a decade, yields on the benchmark 10-year JGB rose to 0.53 per cent and, critically, outside the BoJ’s target band in defiance of its ever more desperate efforts to fight the market.”
Tags: 10-year, Benchmark, BOJ, Control, Defiance, Desperate, Financial regimes, JGB, Markets, Target band, Widow-maker trade, Yield curve, Yields
Bloomberg (October 12)
“In a fresh sign of Japan’s dysfunctional bond market, the 10-year benchmark failed to trade for a third consecutive session Tuesday, the longest such streak since 1999.”
Tags: 10-year, Benchmark, Consecutive, Dysfunctional bond, Failed, Fresh, Japan, Longest, Market, Sign, Streak, Trade
Reuters (July 29)
“The prospect of a U.S. recession could mean more pain for battered stocks, despite a recent rebound that has taken the benchmark index to its highest level in more than a month.” If the U.S. is indeed entering recession “history shows the rough ride stock investors have endured this year may get even bumpier.”
Tags: Battered, Benchmark, Bumpier, Investors, Pain, Prospect, Rebound, Recession, Rough ride, Stocks, U.S.
MarketWatch (May 15)
“A big bounce for stocks on Friday still leaves the main U.S. stock market benchmark close to entering a bear market as investors fret over the Federal Reserve’s ability to get a grip on inflation without sinking the economy stokes fears of stagflation — a pernicious combination of slow economic growth and persistent inflation.”
Reuters (April 1)
“Global equity markets surged on Thursday, with U.S. and European benchmark indexes hitting record highs, as the strongest manufacturing data around the world in decades and a drop in bond yields drove investor optimism.” Support is strong with “multiple tailwinds— stimulus, expectations of record earnings, vaccines—driving stocks higher.”
Tags: Benchmark, Bond yields, Earnings, Equity, Europe, Global, Indexes, Investor, Manufacturing, Markets, Optimism, Stimulus, Surged, Tailwinds, U.S.
Bloomberg (August 22)
The European Central Bank’s quantitative easing program “has driven down European credit spreads.” In September, as the ECB scales down this operation, it’s “going to be a tough wrench seeing the biggest buyer in the room step away. Average spreads over benchmark government bonds may already be showing the strain.”
Tags: Benchmark, Biggest buyer, Credit spreads, ECB, Government bonds, QE, Strain
Bloomberg (December 6)
“Every bull market is unique, but the one in China right now looks downright strange. The Shanghai Composite Index has climbed 24 percent from its January 2016 low, and yet a majority of stocks in the benchmark gauge have fallen during the period.” China has become a global outlier. “For all 45 of the other national equity gauges that have climbed at least 20 percent since last January, a majority of index members have recorded gains.”
Tags: Benchmark, Bull market, China, Gains, Gauge, Outlier, Shanghai Composite, Stocks
Bloomberg (June 22)
“In the culmination of a long-running saga, MSCI Inc. yesterday announced that it would include some Chinese stocks in its widely used benchmark indexes, starting next year.” The decision beggars belief. “China is undeniably an increasingly important market…. But lowering the standards of what constitutes a market and obfuscating real problems just exposes unknowing foreign investors to elevated risks. If Chinese investors and even regulators are so wary of Chinese stocks, why encourage foreigners to enter the fray?”
Tags: Benchmark, China, Foreign investors, Index, MSCI, Problems, Regulators, Risks, Saga, Standards, Stocks
