London: World stocks rose from a one-month low and the yen slipped on Monday as risky assets bounced, relieved that Sunday’s referendum in Crimea passed without major violence but waiting to see whether Western powers will impose sanctions on Russia.
The euro came under pressure after data showed Eurozone consumer inflation dropped back in February to the level that triggered a surprise interest rate cut in November, underlining deflation risks in the bloc.
US Treasury yields ticked higher from a one to one-and-a-half week low set last week. Friday’s data showing a record drop in foreign governments’ holdings of Treasuries underscored the appetite of emerging countries like Russia for cashing in their holdings to defend their currencies.
Investors said much of Ukraine-related selling happened in the run up to Sunday’s vote, where residents voted in favour of joining Russia. Western powers said the vote was illegal and would impose sanctions, but have announced no details.
“The referendum basically turned out as expected no surprise there,” Markus Huber, senior trader at Peregrine & Black, said.
“Positive was also that the referendum in general went very orderly... although much seems to depend on the sanctions the West will impose on Russia.”
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 countries, rose 0.1 per cent on the day, having hit a one-month low on Friday.
European stocks and the broader Euro STOXX 600 both rose around 0.6 per cent. Emerging stocks added a third per cent.
Yuan band
German 10-year Bund yields, the benchmark for Eurozone borrowing costs, ticked higher to 1.556 per cent, having hit eight-month lows of 1.506 per cent on Friday.
U.S. Treasury yields stood at 2.6795 per cent, having fallen to 2.6450 per cent on Friday.
The Fed said its holdings of US securities kept for overseas central banks fell by $106.142 billion (Dh389.8 billion) in the week ended March 12, to stand at $3.206 trillion, bringing the total on deposit with the Fed to the lowest level since December 2012.
US crude oil fell 0.2 per cent to $98.68 a barrel.
The dollar rose 0.1 per cent against a basket of six major currencies while the yen fell 0.4 per cent to 101.79 per dollar.
The euro lost 0.2 per cent to $1.3887. The Eurozone’s year-on-year inflation rate was revised lower to 0.7 per cent in February from an initial estimate of 0.8 per cent, compared with 0.8 per cent in January.
“Today’s CPI figures are a clear reminder that low inflation may have become the new normal for the Eurozone — which certainly won’t make it easy for some countries to reduce their debt overhangs,” said Martin van Vliet, senior economist at ING.
China’s yuan eased against the dollar after the central bank in Beijing doubled the currency’s daily trading band as part of its commitment to liberalise the market.
Yet the currency moved in a relatively narrow range, reflecting market views that the People’s Bank of China will seek to limit currency swings at a time when markets fret over China’s cooling growth and the quality of corporate debt.
