ORLANDO, Florida, March 4 (Reuters) – U.S. and European stock markets registered solid gains on Wednesday, on hopes that conflict in the Middle East might soon cool, while stabilization in oil and energy markets also helped lay the ground for a rebound in other beaten-down assets.
More on that below. In my column today, I look at why geopolitical crises and the risk of a dollar liquidity shock are reminders that the transition away from a dollar-centric financial universe toward a more fractured, multi-polar world could be very rocky.
If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today.
Today’s Key Market Moves
Today’s Talking Points
* And … breathe?
Call it profit-taking, position-squaring, tactical trading, a technical bounce, or hope that the war may end soon. Either way, some of the outsized market moves sparked by the Middle East turmoil stalled or reversed a bit on Wednesday, as investors took a figurative breather.
That meant oil, the dollar and volatility all fell, while Wall Street, European stocks, emerging FX and silver rebounded strongly. Not only did Asia miss out, stocks there got slammed on Wednesday. Catch-up Thursday, perhaps?
* Underlying economic strength
Health warning – purchasing managers’ index surveys for February pre-date the Middle East crisis. Still, figures on Wednesday showed that business activity around the world was humming along at a surprisingly solid clip last month.
Service sector PMIs show that U.S. activity surged to more than a 3-1/2-year high in February, Chinese activity was the strongest in three years, and European growth picked up pace too. This follows fairly upbeat manufacturing PMIs too.
* Warsh nomination goes to the Senate
The ball to make Kevin Warsh the new Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve is officially rolling, after President Donald Trump on Wednesday submitted his nomination of the former Fed governor to the Senate.
The confirmation process won’t be plain-sailing. Some Senators object to the administration’s investigations into current chair Jerome Powell and Governor Lisa Cook, and others say Warsh will be merely a puppet for Trump, further eroding the central bank’s independence.
What could move markets tomorrow?
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
(Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Nia Williams)
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