Opening Bell: Markets Rebound On Evergrande Deal But Await Fed; Bitcoin Recovers

 | Sep 22, 2021 08:47AM ET

  • China’s liquidly injection and Evergrande’s payment plan eases market worries
  • Reflation trade shows optimism
  • Bitcoin’s rebound is suspect
  • h2 Key Events/h2

    Futures contracts on the Dow, S&P, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 recovered in trading on Wednesday, tracking European stocks higher after a sharp selloff yesterday on concerns that China's second largest property developer, Evergrande would default on its loan commitment and dent global financial markets. Overnight, Evergrande announced it would make a bond payment on Sept. 23, thus avoiding default. 

    Markets are now awaiting an update from the Federal Reserve on tapering later today.

    Global Financial Affairs/h2

    Any deviation later today from current market expectations on the Fed's timeline for tapering monetary stimulus will move markets dramatically. This meeting comes after heightened market volatility on concerns that an economic shock from the Evergrande (HK:3333) situation in China could spread to global markets. The key question is whether those worries will influence US policymakers?

    All four US equity futures were in the green ahead of the US session open on Wednesday. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Russell 2000 were in the lead, but only slightly ahead of the S&P 500 futures, while contracts on the NASDAQ 100 lagged.

    The return of the reflation trade suggests that investors believe the current economic recovery is sustainable. However, yesterday, US stocks slumped on the belief that a collapse in Evergrande could lead to a global recession, as the demise of Lehman Brothers did in September 2008.

    European stocks recovered in similar fashion to US futures—via basic resources and energy shares, sectors sensitive to an expanding economy, which also led the gainers on the STOXX 600 Index as commodity prices found their footing.

    On the London Stock Exchange, FTSE 100 listed Flutter Entertainment (LON:FLTRF), an Irish gambling operator, surged over 5% to trade just 5.4% below its Mar. 22 record, after settling a legal dispute.

    China increased its injection of short-term cash into the country’s financial system to $18.6 billion, following a holiday, which ended the major selloff that had gripped global markets. Still, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid for the third straight day, weighed down by Japan’s Nikkei 0.65% decline, bringing the weekly decline for the gauge to 2.8%, for now.