MARKET WRAPS
Stocks:
European markets were in full hangover mode Friday, after the brief post-Fed euphoria that seized investors, on the apparent determination of the world’s major central banks to ignore for now the possible threat of the Omicron variant, and focus instead on inflation risks.
Central bankers’ hawkish tilt, after the Federal Reserve’s decision Wednesday to accelerate the end of quantitative easing and to pencil in three interest rates increase for next year, and the Bank of England’s own rate increase from 0.1% to 0.25%, finally caught up with investors.
The Central Bank of Japan Friday however seemed to side with the European Central Bank by striking an overall dovish tone, even as it announced it would pull back some of its emergency pandemic funding. Haruhiko Kuroda insisted that monetary stimulus would continue, and that borrowing costs would remain low in the months to come.
“Inflation…
