Today's Markets: Stocks steady, government looks to charge up EV infrastructure

Stocks in Europe were little changed at the open and held the week’s range. The FTSE 100 was a tad lower with oil prices, with shares in Frankfurt and Paris up a tiny bit but essentially flat. US stocks rallied yesterday, clawing back Wednesday’s losses. The S&P 500 has recovered 4,500, an area first reached back in August – 6 months of churn to get back to flat. Asian markets were broadly lower, with shares in Hong Kong and mainland China stung by comments from the US audit watchdog, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which said it’s “premature” to say whether a deal to stop hundreds of Chinese companies being kicked off American stock exchanges would be struck. It noted that a deal might be pointless since Chinese regulators may not permit US inspectors to review fully the audit papers of Chinese companies.

UK retail sales have been hit by the February storms. The total collapse of the yen halted as the Bank of Japan showed little fervour for defending the rise in Japanese bond yields. Oil trades lower with Brent around $116, whilst WTI was down $3 to under $110. Bitcoin creeps higher, with Russia said to be considering cryptos for payment for oil and gas.

Some Fed speakers and University of Michigan consumer sentiment data is out later. The sun is shining, get outside. 

Neil Wilson is the Chief Market Analyst at markets.com