Sector movers: Investors breathe sigh of relief after volatile week

Stocks finished a rough and tumble week on the up as markets at least stabilised following the volatility storm of the previous weekend.

Indeed, London's top-flight index wasn't much the worse for wear, ending the week little changed, while the FTSE 250 was only a tad lower.

The picture was much the same in the case of longer-term Gilts and cable.

However, across the Pond, gains in the front part of the interest rate curve had stuck as expectations for Fed policy shifted heavily towards rate cuts starting from September.

On a more positive, gauges of equity volatility such as the VIX index had fallen back to levels that could be labelled normal, but no longer complacent.

Against that backdrop, and heading into the weekend, investors opted not to overextend themselves such that 10-year Gilt yields were a tad lower and interest rate sensitive areas of the stock market faring best.

Looking ahead, investors were expectant ahead of the release of the July consumer price report in the US on the following Wednesday which was expected to yield a further dip in headline CPI from 3.0% in June to 2.9%.

Commenting on the recent price action, BofA strategist Michael Hartnett said that the technical levels that would flip the narrative on Wall Street from a 'soft' to a 'hard landing' had not yet been broken.

Those included the 4% level for the 30-year US Treasury bond yield or 5,050 on the S&P 500.

Should such levels be lost, then traders would target the 2021 highs which lay 10% below, Hartnett said.

The strategist and his team also said that real rates for small businesses were too high, so that big rate cuts were necessary in order to avoid a hard landing.

They also recommended buying assets strangled by 5% yields but which could breath more easily with yields at 3-4%.

Yet in their opinion "Wall St has now stopped BoJ hiking; Wall St's Aug/Sept goal now appears to be bossing the Fed into big rate cuts."

Top performing sectors so far today

Non-life Insurance 3,655.93 +1.73%

Household Goods & Home Construction 14,428.96 +1.46%

Travel & Leisure 6,879.73 +1.24%

Real Estate Investment & Services 2,280.49 +1.03%

Real Estate Investment Trusts 2,333.71 +0.96%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Industrial Engineering 12,116.79 -1.60%

Personal Goods 11,206.89 -0.81%

Personal Care, Drug and Grocery Stores 4,372.66 -0.75%

Precious Metals and Mining 9,734.46 -0.62%

Retailers 4,092.70 -0.47%