European stocks head higher on UK turnaround; yen hits fresh low

LONDON – European stock indexes opened higher on Tuesday, in a revival of risk appetite which analysts attributed to the turnaround in UK fiscal policy.

Britain’s new finance minister Jeremy Hunt scrapped Prime Minister Liz Truss’s economic plan on Monday, which had sapped investor confidence in the UK in recent weeks. Relief at the U-turn prompted a rally in Europe, which lasted through U.S. and Asian trading. Wall Street’s gains were also driven by better-than-expected Bank of America earnings.

The U.S. dollar index hit a 12-day low during Asian trading hours, as investors became less risk-averse, although the yen hit a new 32-year low versus the dollar and Japan’s finance minister repeated warnings that authorities could intervene.

At 0820 GMT, the MSCI word equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was up 0.5 percent on the day.

MSCI’s main European Index was up 1.5 percent, near its highest in 13 days. The STOXX 600 was up 1 percent, having also touched a 13-day high, and London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.3 percent.

Markets also benefited from a Financial Times report that the Bank of England is likely to delay the start of its sales of billions of pounds of UK government bonds.

Still, with high inflation and central bank tightening weighing on markets, analysts said the revival in sentiment could be short-lived.

“I wouldn’t say this a green light for a big rally,” said Antoine Lesne, head of ETF strategy and research for EMEA at SPDR, adding that such moves would be more likely towards the end of the year if it looks like the end of the rate-hiking cycle is coming closer.

“The key positioning of investors for the moment is to remain very cautious,” he said.

The British pound was down 0.2 percent on the day at $1.1335, having eased from Monday’s 12-day high of $1.144.

At 0822 GMT, the U.S. dollar index was flat on the day, at 112.05.

The dollar has gained around 3 percent against the yen so far in October, with the yen dropping sharply due to the gap between U.S. rate hikes and Japan’s ultra-easy monetary policy.

The euro was steady as investors waited for data from Germany’s ZEW economic sentiment survey, which is expected to show further strain on Europe’s largest economy.

The European Commission is set to propose another set of emergency measures to tackle high energy prices.

Euro zone government bond yields were a touch higher, with the benchmark German 10-year yield up 3 basis points at 2.304 percent.

The New Zealand dollar was up 0.8 percent, having jumped after higher-than-expected inflation data spurred expectations that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand would raise interest rates by 75 bps at its policy meeting next month. The Australian dollar was steady.

Oil prices rose, helped by the weaker dollar. Brent crude futures were up 0.5 percent at $92.08 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.5 percent at $85.99 per barrel.

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