Stocks dipped all around for a third day and Treasuries rose as Federal Reserve policy makers meet.
The MSCI All-Country World Index fell 0.2 percent by 7:05 a.m. in New York, with Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures retreating 0.2 percent.
Gold climbed to $1,241.67 an ounce.
The renminbi weakened after foreign investment plunged to a four-year low. Treasury 10-year note yields slipped three basis points to 2.56 percent. The ruble fell 0.5 percent and gold climbed 0.5 percent.
Fed officials meet to review policy today and tomorrow,
with an unexpected decline in American factory output tempering
speculation that the timeline for interest-rate increases could
be brought forward. According to economists in a
Bloomberg News survey, Fed officials will maintain interest rates at a record low
at their two-day policy meeting. The central bank has said that its
benchmark rate will stay low for a considerable time after it
completes the monthly bond purchases. Chair Janet Yellen holds a
press conference tomorrow.
Bunds and gilts advanced with Treasuries as investors sought the safest assets. The rate on 10-year German debt dropped two basis points to 1.04 percent and yields on similar-maturity U.K. bonds also declined two basis points, to 2.52 percent.
In foreign-exchange markets, the Swiss franc and Japanese yen, which tend to strengthen in times of market stress, were among the best performers of 17 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
Bank of America Corp.’s Market Risk index, which measures future price swings in equities, rates, currencies and commodities, climbed to minus 0.91 on Sept. 10, the highest since March, and was at minus 0.94 as of Sept. 15.
Non-financial inbound investment in China in August fell 14 percent from a year earlier to $7.2 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said. Ukraine traded accusations with pro-Russian separatists over clashes in the country’s east and NATO began military exercises yesterday in western Ukraine.
“Fed interest rate policy is the central issue for everybody,” Guillaume Duchesne, an equity strategist at BGL BNP Paribas SA in Luxembourg, said in a phone interview. “A few questions such as the timing of the next Fed action arise.”
Thirteen of 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600 declined. The volume of Stoxx 600 shares changing hands was 12 percent more than the 30-day average, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Jazztel Plc jumped 5.8 percent, while Orange SA fell 1.4 percent after the French company offered to buy the Spanish broadband provider for about 3.4 billion euros ($4.4 billion).
United Internet AG lost 6.9 percent as the online-access and domain provider sold shares. Thomas Cook Group Plc (TCG) dropped 6 percent after the tour operator said its German business had weaker margins in the fourth quarter.
In the U.K., the FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.5 percent before the Scottish referendum on Sept. 18. A measure of expected volatility climbed 4 percent, heading for its highest level since March.
Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in December slipped the past two days, and the index yesterday closed 1.2 percent below its Sept. 5 record.
Treasury Market Volatility
Treasury market volatility ascended to a five-month high as the market prepared for the Fed’s latest policy statement. Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s MOVE Index, which measures price swings based on options, climbed to 66.09 yesterday, the highest since April 2.
Gold’s 60-day historical volatility is near the lowest since October 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Open interest in New York futures (SPX) and options is holding near the lowest in five years, while money managers cut their bullish holdings for four straight weeks. Gold climbed to $1,241.67 an ounce.
The sterling weakened against all of its 16 major counterparts as a report showed annual consumer-price inflation slowed in August. The U.K. currency dropped 0.2 percent to $1.6196. With Scotland due to hold an independence referendum on Sept. 18, Prime Minister David Cameron made a final plea to the nation’s voters, urging them to step back from an illusory “dream” of risk-free independence and avoid the irreversible breakup that would come with a “yes” vote.
Index of Investor and Analyst Expectations
Meanwhile investor confidence fell for a ninth consecutive month in Germany. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim announced its index of investor and analyst expectations dropped to 6.9 in September from 8.6 in August. The gauge aims to predict economic developments in six months.
Nordea Bank AB (NDA) is selling contingent capital notes in dollars, the first Swedish lender to issue the riskiest form of bank debt. The additional Tier 1 securities are subject to a partial or full temporary writedown if Nordea’s common equity Tier 1 ratio falls below 8 percent of risk-weighted assets.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 0.4 percent, falling for a ninth day in its longest run of losses since November.
The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.8 percent and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong lost 1.1 percent, dropping to the lowest level since July 22.
The ruble weakened as much as 1.4 percent to 38.9300 per dollar. The Micex Index rose 1.3 percent. Ukraine’s July 2017 Eurobond fell for a third day, lifting the yield up 15 basis points to a two-week high of 13.42 percent.
While Ukraine observed the 11-day cease-fire, the airport in Donetsk, the biggest city in the conflict zone, was shelled all day, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said at briefing in Kiev yesterday. Separatist authorities in Donetsk said their forces held fire while their positions were shelled more than 40 times.
