March 10 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
EUROPE HOLDS ITS GROUND AT THE OPEN (0826 GMT)
European stocks were expected to pull back at the open after two stellar sessions this week but there's no sign of a tactical retreat.
Looking at the DAX, Germany's benchmark is up about 0.1% and in striking range of another record high.
France's CAC 40 is also rising 0.2% and it's really London which is pulling the STOXX 600 (-0.1%) just below the floatation mark.
The FTSE 100 and 250 are losing about 0.5% at the moment with the big miners taking big hits at the open.
Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) is down 3.5%, and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) and BHP Group -2.5% each.
Britain's ITV (LON:ITV) is losing 4.1% but it's not clear at this point whether it's due to presenter Piers Morgan leaving his high-profile breakfast slot with the broadcaster after his criticism of Prince Harry's wife Meghan.
(Julien Ponthus)
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DREAMING OF A GOLDILOCKS (0804 GMT)
Yesterday's rally on Wall Street might have felt like vindication for any strategists arguing that rising Treasury yields are no threat to stock markets, as long as the upward trajectory is orderly and in line with economic recovery.
Not too hot, not too cold, such a Goldilocks recovery would help corporate earnings back to pre-COVID 19 levels while keeping inflation in check.
Focus then is on bond yields; 10-year U.S. borrowing costs US10YT=RR, up more than 60 basis points this year, slipped to 1.537% after Tuesday's sale of 3-year notes went off well.
All eyes now on Wednesday's 10-debt sale -- it was a weak 7-year auction on Feb 25 that sent yields 20 bps higher, with spillover into equity markets (Full Story).
Inflation fears are creeping up in the background too with growth forecast upgrades and the passage of the $1.9 trillion U.S. stimulus package. So U.S. CPI data due 1330 GMT is another data point to watch.
And data today showed China's factory gate prices rising at their fastest pace since November 2018 in February, raising expectations for robust growth. (Full Story)
On the Goldilocks front, it certainly felt that way in Europe the past couple of days; cyclical shares benefited from the reflation trade while tech was turbocharged on Tuesday by the Nasdaq's 4% rebound. Futures indicate a bit of pullback today however, in Europe as well as New York.
Finally, the dollar continues to make headway against other currencies while bitcoin BTC=BTSP turned lower after earlier topping $55,000 for the first time since Feb. 22. Key developments that should provide more direction to markets on Wednesday: Kazakhstan central bank meets 0900 GMT Bank of Canada meeting 1500 GMT Croatia central bank meets German 10-yr Bund auction US Treasury 10-year auction US Feb CPI US corps: Tupperware, Campbell soups Europe corps: Adidas (DE:ADSGN) expects strong rebound, Inditex (MC:ITX)'s 2020 net profit falls 70%
(Julien Ponthus)
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MORNING CALL: LIMITED PULL BACK IN SIGHT (0621 GMT)
A limited pull back is in sight this morning for European bourses after yesterday's session which generated a record high for Frankfurt's DAX and sent the STOXX 600 in kissing distance of its pre-COVID 19 highs.
Futures for the German benchmark index and the EuroSTOXX50 are trading down 0.4% while FTSE futures were down close to -0.8%.
The same downward trend could be seen for Wall Street derivatives after a stellar session during which the Nasdaq surged about 4% as treasury yields eased.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 0.2% with Asian stocks bouncing back from a two-month low.
(Julien Ponthus)
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