Opening Bell: U.S. Futures Signal Muted Recovery As Bond Yields, Oil Surge

 | Jan 19, 2022 08:19AM ET

  • US Treasury yields rally
  • Oil hits a new 7-year high on continued supply disruptions
  • European luxury goods players thrive
  • h2 Key Events/h2

    On Wednesday, US futures on the Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 and European stocks recovered slightly after yesterday's equity selloff coincided with investors selling global bonds, driving yields higher ahead of tightening US monetary policy amid the highest inflation in four decades.

    The dollar slid while gold was stronger.

    h2 Global Financial Affairs/h2

    US futures were all trading in the green, with contracts on the NASDAQ 100 leading and Russell 2000 futures lagging, as investors switched out of the cyclical rotation which favors value over growth stocks.

    Retailers climbed after Swiss luxury brands retailer Richemont (SIX:CFR) and the UK's Burberry Group (LON:BRBY) outperformed earnings forecasts, with sales beating pre-pandemic levels. Moreover, London-based Burberry forecast 35% earnings growth this year, demonstrating that consumers were comfortable splurging on luxury goods which is a positive indicator for economic growth.

    This is noteworthy. The luxury goods group's outlook contradicts the superficial read of today's US futures performance, as the Consumer Discretionary sector is economically sensitive, therefore should be underperforming.

    Earlier Wednesday, stocks in Asia extended their decline, and the only index in the green was Hong Kong's Hang Seng, but only just—it closed up less than 0.1%

    The MSCI's broadest index of Asian Pacific shares excluding Japan continued its slide for a fifth day.