- Ahead of their best week in more than two months, global markets were being helped by speculation about Chinese stimulus measures and the fervor surrounding AI companies.
- The MSCI World Index has climbed 3% this week, the most since the end of March. European stocks rose on Friday but Asian stocks staged a significant gain. The S&P 500 ended Thursday with a sixth day of gains, marking its longest winning streak since November 2021, and US futures held steady.
- The appetite for riskier assets has surged as bets that the Federal Reserve would conclude its tightening cycle sooner rather than later after this week's delay in interest rate hikes, and expectations are building that China's government will raise spending. This boosted trading on Friday in the mining, energy, and certain luxury companies in Europe.
- ECB's Nagel: We may need to keep hiking rates after the summer break.
- BoJ's Governor Ueda: More time is needed to meet the BoJ's 2% inflation target.
- Goldman Sachs lifts ECB rate outlook and sees hike to 4% in September.
- ECB's Wunsch: Core inflation holding around 5% could necessitate a rate hike in September and possibly beyond.
