Marketmind: Markets ‘Fed Up’

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Anshuman Daga

No pain, no gain.

That seems to be message from the Fed as it gave sobering projections and set the ground for its policy rate to rise at a faster pace and to a higher level than expected.

That sent Asian stocks crumbling to two-year lows, the dollar to a fresh two-decade high and Treasury yields higher.

BlackRock (NYSE:), the world’s biggest asset manager, expects the Fed to raise rates few more times, with data determining the “veracity” of that and how much longer they will have to go.

Rick Rieder, who heads BlackRock’s global allocation investment team says that due to slower economic growth, the question now is when the economy will become “Fed Up,” with rising rates and tighter liquidity and begin adjusting demand relative to these much tighter monetary conditions.

Meanwhile, as sterling hit a new 37-year low of $1.1225, the only hope for any remaining sterling bulls might be a massive hike by the Bank of England.

While economists polled by Reuters last week expect the central bank to announce at 1200 GMT that rates will rise to 2.25% from 1.75%, financial markets have priced in a bigger move to 2.5%.

True, inflation is just off a 40-year high but Britain still has to cope with free-spending government, slower growth and a tight labour market.

Elsewhere, Norway’s central bank is also widely expected to increase rates today by 50 basis points to 2.25%, the highest level since 2011.

But the Swiss National Bank is expected to join the 75 basis point rate hike club to choke off nearly three-decade-high inflation.

In Asia, the focus was on the Bank of Japan as it stuck to its ultra-loose monetary policy and dovish policy guidance, remaining an outlier among a wave of central banks raising interest rates to combat soaring inflation.

The race to raise rates

Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:

Central bank meetings: Swiss National Bank, Norway central bank, Bank of England

Economic data: US weekly jobless claims

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