LONDON, Dec 13 – Global stocks were steady on Tuesday as the dollar eased slightly ahead of U.S. inflation data, which could persuade the Federal Reserve and other central banks to backtrack. in its aggressive rises in interest rates.
* November consumer price pressures in the world’s largest economy are expected to have eased for the fifth consecutive month, theoretically taking pressure off the Fed to raise rates for an extended period of time, which would Investors have been counting for months.
* MSCI’s global stock index was up 0.12%, on track for its first monthly decline since September, as it has lost 1.2% year-to-date but is still up 12.6% on the quarter. , its best data since the last three months of 2020.
* However, core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices – two key drivers of increased price pressures in the past year – has accelerated steadily over this time.
* The core Consumer Price Index is expected to have risen to 6.1% in November, up from 6.3% in October, while headline inflation is expected to have eased to 7.3% from 7.7 %.
* “At the moment, market sentiment has really been based on the idea that US inflation is coming down, so I think if that doesn’t happen… if we were to see it even stabilize, there’s a significant risk This undermines what we’ve been seeing in terms of the market moving higher and the gains we’ve seen through the fourth quarter so far,” said Joshua Mahony, IG strategist.
* The dollar was down 0.1% against a basket of six major currencies, holding broadly flat against the euro, yen and pound. So far this quarter, it has lost almost 6.5% of its value, largely because investors believe US inflation has peaked.
* In Europe, the stock markets began with slight advances, led by improvements in oil and gas companies thanks to a 1.7% rise in crude oil prices after the temporary closure of a key pipeline that feeds the United States. That added to concerns about a supply squeeze, especially at a time when China is easing some of its tough COVID restrictions.
* The STOXX 600 was up 0.1%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX were up 0.2%.
* On the foreign exchange market, the pound was down 0.1% to $1.2263 and a similar amount against the euro, which was trading at around 85.93 pence after data showed rising UK unemployment. and increased wage growth that will keep Bank of England policymakers on their toes when they meet this week.
* Oil rallied for the second day in a row and was up around 1.5% after rising 2.5% on Monday.
* Gold futures, sensitive to changes in US inflation, were up 0.2% at $1,784.8 an ounce.