| Market data as of 06:18 am EST. Market data may be delayed depending on provider agreements. Global stocks slipped as investors awaited more |
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| Markets Snapshot | | | | Market data as of 06:18 am EST. | View or Create your Watchlist | | | Market data may be delayed depending on provider agreements. | | |
Five things you need to know | |
- Global stocks slipped as investors awaited more clarity on US tariff plans and the economic outlook before President Donald Trump's April 2 deadline to impose a fresh set of trade levies.
- Copper prices in New York hit a record after people familiar with the matter said tariffs on copper imports could be coming within several weeks, months earlier than the deadline for a decision.
- The pound fell and gilts climbed after UK inflation unexpectedly cooled, strengthening the case for the Bank of England to cut interest rates again in May. It's a morale boost for Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves ahead of a key economic statement today.
- CK Hutchison's plan to sell two Panama ports to a BlackRock-led group is moving ahead as scheduled, people familiar with the matter said, in a sign that negotiations haven't yet been disrupted by China's anger over the transaction.
- The US announced that Russia and Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, ensuring safe navigation and preventing the use of commercial shipping for military purposes.
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| Worries over the economic effects of the global trade war are further sapping liquidity in US stocks, creating a headache for institutional investors that could also boost volatility in broader markets. Liquidity — the ease of buying or selling an asset without affecting its price — has been dwindling for years due to factors such as tighter regulations and the rise of algorithmic trading. Tariff concerns have introduced a new wrinkle, stoking gyrations in individual stocks that have made it harder for institutions to trade in size. The phenomenon can be seen in a pair of widely tracked liquidity measures. Liquidity in S&P 500 stock-index futures, as measured in the most active contract, stands at a two-year low, data compiled by Deutsche Bank show. Meanwhile, the five-day moving average of Citigroup's liquidity index, which is based on futures volumes for the S&P 500, is also hovering near its lowest level in two years. "This concerns us and it's really frustrating," said Rob Friesen, chief operating officer at Las Vegas-based Bright Trading. "Tariff fears exacerbate swings in individual stocks, so then you feel like you're getting run over every time the algo trades kick in when volatility spikes." Low liquidity can push up the costs of portfolio hedging for traders large and small, while widening the spread between buy and sell prices until it becomes difficult for investors to determine what is fair to pay. In broader markets, it can magnify stock routs if investors aren't able to sell shares at the desired level, forcing them to take a worse price. In November, the Federal Reserve flagged the issue in its Financial Stability Report, saying "liquidity in financial markets was generally low and can become strained during periods of volatility." —Jess Menton | |
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| A €1 bet on a struggling Austrian engine maker has turned into one of the hottest investments in Europe thanks to the boom in defense stocks. German private equity firm Mutares paid the token price for Steyr Motors back in 2022 and is now reaping the gains — both through the 1,600% surge in Steyr's shares and in its own stock price, which doubled in just six months.  - Tesla shares fall 1.4% in US premarket trading after the EV maker was downgraded to hold at Mirae Asset Securities. Nvidia is down 0.7% following a Financial Times report that China's energy rules for advanced chips could hit its sales.
- GameStop jumps 12% after the video game retailer said it's adding Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.
- Ocado surges 15% in London after the online grocer got a positive analyst rating from JPMorgan for the first time in more than seven years. The broker upgrades the stock to overweight to reflect a "turning tide" in the digital grocery sector.
- CD Projekt sinks 11% in Warsaw after the video-game developer says its new Witcher 4 game won't be released before 2027.
- Vistry falls 7% in London after the UK housebuilder reported continuing weakness in home sales following a turbulent end to 2024. —Kit Rees, Isolde MacDonogh and Libby Cherry
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Private equity wants your 401k | |
| Less than a week before President Donald Trump's second inauguration, more than 30 money managers gathered on Zoom to strategize about how to pull America's retirement savers into investments far beyond stocks and bonds. During the meeting attended by Blackstone, UBS, Neuberger Berman and others, participants assembled a manifesto articulating private equity's rightful position in 401(k) plans, including in the default portfolios for workers who don't select their own investments. One way to make the point, said Charles Millard, a former top government pension regulator and now a private equity advisor, would be to present a new narrative for corporate plan gatekeepers: "You're not a fiduciary if you don't consider alts." In other words, companies would be doing workers a disservice — and possibly breaking the law — if they didn't explore the broadest range of investments. "Obviously we need to be more diplomatic," he added. With Republicans in control of the White House and Congress, the industry sees an opportunity to fuel its next golden era: There's some $12 trillion in employer-sponsored accounts such as 401(k)s, which are one of the main ways Americans save for retirement. As of now, the vast majority is out of reach. Fewer than one in 10 plans offer any kind of alternative investment, according to an American Retirement Association survey. Only 2.4% make private equity available. The pitch to the 401(k) marketplace, as described by more than a dozen people with knowledge of the effort, is based on the premise that individuals are missing out on gains that buyout firms have delivered to institutions in recent decades. To emphasize that to corporate gatekeepers, the industry wants Washington's help. —Allison McNeely and Dawn Lim | |
Calling Europe's stock rally | |
| Citigroup's Beata Manthey accepts that when she upgraded European stocks in October it seemed a crazy move at the time, with investors shunning a region that looked to have little going for it. To make matters worse, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 3.5% in the weeks that followed. But four months and an 10% rally later, not only has the call paid off for clients, the bank's head of European and global equity strategy says there's more to come. European assets have been on a tear this year, defying expectations that Trump's trade war would put another dent in the economy and its stocks. Instead, his on-again-off-again tariff announcements have sown confusion in the US, pushing investors to reconsider relative underperformers across the Atlantic. Germany's new spending plans and their impact on growth and earnings have added to the rally. "Things got scary in the short term and some investors listened, some investors didn't," Manthey said in an interview in London. "But everybody does remember that it was the right call at the right time." Manthey has a track record of recommendations that proved right, including predicting a record for the Stoxx 600 last year. For 2025, she set a target of 570 points, among the highest on Wall Street. The benchmark closed Tuesday at 552.59. —Sagarika Jaisinghani | |
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