Yesterday, the yields of ten-year US Treasury securities fell by 10.1 bps and closed at 1.34% per annum. During the week, the yields of American treasuries decreased by 13 bps, today the yields of treasury ten-year securities have been growing since the opening and are at the level of 1.39%. US stock indexes declined on Friday – the S&P500 lost 0.84%, the Dow Jones industrial index fell 0.17%, the NASDAQ technology index fell 1.74%.
Western markets declined last week, despite a positive start: all major US and European indices closed in the red, with the exception of the British FTSE 100, which added 1.11% by the end of the week. Investors are revising their forecasts due to the deteriorating epidemiological situation in the world, as well as the prospects of an early tightening of monetary policy in the United States. The reason for this was the "hawkish" statements by the head of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell at the beginning of last week about the "non-temporary" nature of inflation, as well as subsequent statements and comments by representatives of the US Federal Reserve, characterized by sharply tightened rhetoric. So, on Friday, the president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, James Ballard, who will become a voting member of the FOMC in 2022, noted that record inflation and the achieved pace of economic recovery require the monetary authorities to abandon the stimulus program, because the possibility of a more rapid curtailment of the quantitative easing program will be considered at the next meetings.
Macro statistics in the US actually indicate a moderate economic recovery: The country's GDP has already exceeded the peak reached before the outbreak of the pandemic, and the unemployment rate continues to decline. So, Friday's official data on the unemployment rate turned out to be better than expected (4.2% against the forecast of 4.5%), and the November ISM index of business activity in the US services sector also turned out to be higher than forecast - 69.1 points against the expected 65.0, which, coupled with the positive dynamics of the index of business activity in the manufacturing sector (PMI), released earlier, indicates an increase in confidence and business activity.
The past week was also eventful for the oil market. The growth of oil product stocks in the United States, a slight decline in crude oil reserves, uncertainty in the market caused by the new strain of the coronavirus "omicron", as well as the decision of OPEC+ to continue to increase production by 400 thousand barrels. in a month, oil quotes were forced to decline significantly. At the moment, the quotes went below the level of $ 66 / bbl, but by the end of the week they corrected closer to the level of $ 70 per barrel. February Brent crude futures opened today with growth and is trading at $71.58/bbl. We believe that the further dynamics of quotations will continue to be determined by the epidemiological situation, since there is still no unambiguous assessment of the impact of the omicron strain on the healthcare system of countries and the economy as a whole, but at the moment the level is $ 80/bbl. it is a limitation of the strengthening of oil quotes.
As a result, it can be noted that the upcoming December meeting of the American regulator, which will be held on December 15, as well as the news background around the new strain of coronavirus, will serve as the main determinants of sentiment in both the stock and commodity markets. In addition, in the coming week, the focus will be on November inflation data in the United States, as well as statements by representatives of the Fed.