Back
1 Jul 2014
Lack of usual volatility on the last trading day of 1H14 - Deutsche Bank
FXStreet (Łódź) - Jim Reid from Deutsche Bank observes that the last trading day of the first half of the year lacked market volatility usually associated with month-end and half-end portfolio rebalancing.
Key quotes
"Yesterday’s S&P 500 volumes were about half that compared to the last trading day of 1H13. Adding to that, the S&P 500 closed virtually unchanged at -0.04%, and for the record the last time we saw a gain or loss of more than 1% in the index was April 16th."
"One theme to note though was the continued underperformance of European banks across the equity and credit spectrum."
"Yesterday’s underperformance was sparked by a 17% fall in the stock of Banco Espirito Santo which is Portugal’s largest bank. The price action was dictated by reports that regulators were concerned over corporate governance between the bank and other related companies and there were also reports that Luxembourg justice authorities had launched an investigation into one of the bank’s holding companies."
"Portuguese securities regulator banned naked short selling on the bank’s stock for one day. The news weighed on Portuguese bond yields which added 8bp, and also on European banking stocks in general (-0.75% vs Stoxx 600 -0.09%)."
"Peripheral bank credit traded about 3-5bp wider yesterday - and the European senior financials index (+2bp) underperformed Main (+1.375bp). The two credit indices were trading flat to each other in the middle of June but the recent underperformance of banks has pushed the basis back to nearly 6bp."
Key quotes
"Yesterday’s S&P 500 volumes were about half that compared to the last trading day of 1H13. Adding to that, the S&P 500 closed virtually unchanged at -0.04%, and for the record the last time we saw a gain or loss of more than 1% in the index was April 16th."
"One theme to note though was the continued underperformance of European banks across the equity and credit spectrum."
"Yesterday’s underperformance was sparked by a 17% fall in the stock of Banco Espirito Santo which is Portugal’s largest bank. The price action was dictated by reports that regulators were concerned over corporate governance between the bank and other related companies and there were also reports that Luxembourg justice authorities had launched an investigation into one of the bank’s holding companies."
"Portuguese securities regulator banned naked short selling on the bank’s stock for one day. The news weighed on Portuguese bond yields which added 8bp, and also on European banking stocks in general (-0.75% vs Stoxx 600 -0.09%)."
"Peripheral bank credit traded about 3-5bp wider yesterday - and the European senior financials index (+2bp) underperformed Main (+1.375bp). The two credit indices were trading flat to each other in the middle of June but the recent underperformance of banks has pushed the basis back to nearly 6bp."