Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
- Latest: Travel stocks rallying again today
- Sterling has hit $1.42 today, first time since April 2018
- Also at one-year high vs euro
- Analysts: reopening plan lifts pound
- Fed chair warns US economic recovery ‘uneven and far from complete
3.01pm GMT
Over in New York, tech stocks are dipping again as some investors continue to rotate into ‘value’ stocks such as travel companies instead.
The Nasdaq index is down 0.85%, or 112 points, at 13,352, while the broad S&P 500 index has lost 0.3%.
U.S. stocks skidded lower at Wednesday’s open as investors continued to react to a persistent rise in bond yields, a day after Jerome Powell attempted to soothe the market. https://t.co/yPCQskgID8 pic.twitter.com/0kqQ7amEht
The decline in tech stocks and rise in value stocks, along with the rallying copper and crude oil prices, suggested to me that investors were merely rotating into assets that are expected to do well in an improving economy. So, it was more of a rotation story than of stocks topping out.
And that’s how it proved to be as the latest dip was bought. That doesn’t mean things won’t turn ugly again, but Tuesday’s price action continues to show how insatiable the appetite for risk is at the moment. Still, valuations are sky-high for US equities and if and when major central banks start tapering talks, then we may see a sharp decline. So, investors should not be reckless or deceived by markets at extremely high levels.
2.41pm GMT
Heads-up: The Financial Times are reporting that the head of McKinsey, global managing partner Kevin Sneader, has been ousted in a leadership vote at the consultancy.
Related: McKinsey agrees $600m settlement over role in opioids crisis
McKinsey partners have voted to replace Kevin Sneader as global managing partner, in a historic rebuke over his handling of a succession of crises, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
This means that the next head of the influential global consulting firm will be either Bob Sternfels or Sven Smit, the heads of McKinsey’s San Francisco and Amsterdam offices respectively, who have made it through to the last round of the leadership election.
Big @FT Scoop
McKinsey’s global managing partner Kevin Sneader has been ousted in leadership vote
Story w/ @Edgecliffe https://t.co/uWEa0ehJee
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