Equities dive as inflation concerns rise again

Traders sold equities on Monday and Tuesday, with the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 3% yesterday to the lowest level in a month.

Earlier in the day, the Chinese PPI rose 6.8% year-on-year for April, up from 4.4% scored in March, marking the fastest rate in three and a half years. 

More focus will be on Wednesday’s US CPI data as investors are starting to price in some form of policy normalization – be it rate hikes or tapering as inflation continues to rampage everywhere – most evident in the vertical commodity prices. 

Later today, German ZEW indices will be watched, with markets expecting a small improvement from the latest data. 

On the yields front – the 10-year US yield is higher on Tuesday, briefly advancing above the 1.6% threshold. 

The WTI oil failed to hold yesterday’s gains and dropped with the negative sentiment. The 65 USD zone is still strong resistance.

In FX, the greenback’s underperformance continues – the EURUSD pair was trading higher at around 1.150, the USDJPY pair remained pinned below 109, and the Cable was attacking February highs. It looks like the FX market is not pricing in any hawkishness by the Fed as the USD remains under severe selling pressure.

Source: https://www.axiory.com/market-news/equities-dive-as-inflation-concerns-rise-again