Zero Hedge
March 18, 2019
Global stocks rose to the highest level in five months and the dollar dipped on Monday as traders ignored a SCMP report that the April meeting between presidents Xi and Trump had been delayed to June, and glossed over the latest slide in Boeing stock following a WSJ report of a grand jury subpoena into the 737 MAX’s development, as they once again priced in the dovish stance from the Fed at its policy meeting this week, a process which has been going on since December.
MSCI’s World index was up 0.3% on the day, sitting at a five-month high, hitting its highest since October 10.
European markets were broadly in the green, led by miners and banks, helped by a jump in shares in German lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank after they confirmed over the weekend they were in talks to merge, a process which is far from certain will end with a merger despite the German government’s backing. The STOXX Europe 600 index rose 0.3%, hitting a five-month high, before trimming gains in half.
Britain’s FTSE 100 outperformed its European peers with a 0.3 percent gain, the main beneficiary from the surge in base metal prices with heavyweight miners all sitting comfortably at the top of the index (Rio Tinto +2.2%, Anglo American +2.1%, Antofagasta +1.8%, Glencore +1.7%); gains were boosted by prospects of parliament voting for a third time on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan after ruling out a near-term no-deal exit.
European material names initially outperformed but were later overtaken by financial names ahead of a plethora of central bank rate decision including FOMC and BOE. Financial names may also feel support from the Deutschebank (+3.9%)/Commerzbank (+6.6%) saga, with the latest reports confirming merger talks between the two banks after the German government approved the tie-up, although, German union Verdi warned that merger could put up to 30k jobs…