Boomberg News - Global Selloff Threatens to Spiral as Central Banks Angst Builds

A selloff in fixed income is starting to snowball into a global market rout.

Shares in Europe and Asia dropped the most since the aftermath of the U.K. Brexit vote in June, and U.S. stock-index futures fell as concern spread that central banks are preparing to wean markets off unprecedented stimulus. Treasuries extended their slide into a fourth day as the U.S. prepared to sell three- and 10-year notes, and the yield on benchmark German bunds reached the highest since Britain’s decision to exit the European Union was confirmed. Oil sank toward $45 a barrel as nickel tumbled the most in four weeks. The yen advanced and the won slid. Samsung Electronics Co. tumbled after airlines and regulators warned against the use of its Note 7 smartphones.

Starting with a tumble in longer-dated government bonds, financial markets have been jolted out of a period of calm by an uptick in concern over the outlook for central bank policies. Lael Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, speaks Monday in Chicago, days after Fed Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said the economy could overheat. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi last week played down the prospect of further stimulus and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the chances of a U.K. recession had fallen. With the the Bank of Japan set to unveil the results of a comprehensive policy review at its its Sept. 20-21 meeting, traders are on tenterhooks.

“It was only a matter of time for this selloff,” said Ralf Zimmermann, a strategist at Bankhaus Lampe in Dusseldorf, Germany. “We had seen post Brexit a really notable rebound in markets even if fundamentals hadn’t improved accordingly. I expect some more downside going forward. There’s also the risk of the Fed meeting coming up."

Damage report:
H-Shares -4%
Hang Seng -3.4%
NZ -2.5%
Korea -2.3%
Australia -2.2%
Japan, China -1.7%
Thailand -1.5%
India -1.4%
Taiwan -1.2%

10:21 AM - 12 Sep 2016

David Ingles

Stocks

The MSCI All-Country World Index of shares fell for a third day, dropping 0.8 percent at 10:19 a.m. London time. All major western-European stock markets dropped as the Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 1.7 percent. The VStoxx Index tracking euro-area equity volatility headed for its biggest jump since January, signaling a return of instability after an extended period of stable prices.

Miners posted the worst performance of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600 today as commodity prices retreated. Energy companies slid as oil extended declines after U.S. producers increased drilling. 

Linde AG tumbled 8.4 percent after saying it terminated talks for a combination with Praxair Inc. EON SE slid 15 percent after spinning off its Uniper SE unit. RWE AG fell 3.1 percent after confirming plans for an initial public offering of Innogy SE shares in the fourth quarter. SVG Capital Plc jumped 15 percent after HarbourVest Global Private Equity Ltd. offered to buy it for about 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) in cash.

S&P 500 Index futures slipped 0.6 percent, indicating U.S. equities will slide for a fourth day, after ending last week lower.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 2.3 percent, the most since June 24. The gauge has slumped 4.2 percent in two days, poised for a one-month low. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong sank 4 percent, the most in seven months, and South Korea’s Kospi lost 2.3 percent.

Samsung plunged 7 percent after U.S. regulators joined the company in cautioning users to power down their Note 7s and refrain from charging them. Aviation authorities and airlines have called on passengers to stop using the gadgets during flights.

The company announced a recall of millions of big-screen smartphones on Sept. 2 after about three dozen of them were found to have batteries that caught fire or exploded.

Bonds

Germany’s 10-year yield climbed four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 0.05 percent, and touched the highest level since June 24. Spanish bonds with a similar maturity dropped a fourth day, pushing the yield to the most in seven weeks.

Yields on benchmark Treasuries increased two basis points to 1.69 percent, before sales of a combined $44 billion of three- and 10-year notes. The three-year noes being sold later on Monday yielded 0.95 percent, an increase of 10 basis points compared with the previous auction on Aug. 9.

Brainard, seen as a leading opponent of rate increases for much of the past year, is the last scheduled Fed speaker before the self-imposed blackout period running up to the Sept. 20-21 policy meeting. Any hawkish shift in her rhetoric may stoke volatility in financial markets, which on Friday put the probability of a hike in borrowing costs this month at 30 percent.

Ten-year yields in Australia surged nine basis points to 2.05 percent, after gaining 10 basis points on Friday, and that for New Zealand debt with a similar due date jumped 11 basis points to 2.47 percent.

Japanese government bonds with maturities of less than a decade advanced and longer-dated securities declined. The moves follow a Reuters report on Friday that said the Bank of Japan was studying options to steepen the nation’s yield curve.

The cost of insuring corporate debt against default jumped the most since late June. The Markit iTraxx Europe Index of credit-default swaps on highly rated companies climbed four basis points to 72 basis points. A measure of swaps on junk-rated corporate issuers rose 16 basis points to 332 basis points. Both gauges are at the highest in about two months.

Commodities

The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.6 percent, after sliding 1.3 percent on Friday.

Crude oil sank 1.6 percent to $45.14 a barrel in New York after American producers increased drilling, adding to a glut. U.S. rigs targeting crude rose to the highest since February, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc.

Nickel slid 3.4 percent in London, dropping for the first time in eight days, while tin tumbled by the most since May. Gold rose 0.1 percent, after retreating 1.6 percent over the last three sessions.

Iron ore fell in China to the lowest since June amid speculation the nation’s policy makers will tighten property curbs and so cool demand for steel. Steps should be taken to restrain bubble-like expansion in the housing market, Ma Jun, chief economist of the PBOC’s research bureau, said in an interview with China Business News.

Wheat in Chicago fell 0.7 percent to about $4 a bushel, approaching a decade-low of $3.8675 reached on Aug. 31. Money managers have their biggest-ever bet on price declines and a global stockpile estimate by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecast to still be at a record high after the figure is updated on Monday.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fluctuated near a one-week high before Brainard’s speech, with regional Fed chiefs for Atlanta and Minneapolis also lined up to speak on Monday. The yen appreciated 0.6 percent versus the greenback.

There’s “growing caution over a rate hike as the day of the Fed’s decision draws closer,” said Masashi Murata, a currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in Tokyo. “Markets had been too confident that a hike wouldn’t happen. But global economies are not in a critical phase, so there’s a limit to selling on risk aversion. Money will eventually seek yields and underpin high-yielding currencies.”

The won slumped 1.4 percent, the worst performance among major currencies, after Yonhap News reported that U.S. and South Korean intelligence authorities see a high chance that North Korea will conduct an additional nuclear weapons test after holding one on Friday.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index slid 0.4 percent, leaving it down 1.3 percent over two days. 

Financial markets in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East were closed for a holiday.