By Chris Becker
The confidence fairy returned to risk markets once more although only US stocks had the momentum to push through its own session with supporting comments by a slew of central bankers (including Captain Glenn) and a solid earnings result for IBM. A stronger USD and rising oil prices also helped imbibe risk although not Halliburton which reported a loss for the quarter while Morgan Stanley beat all expectations with its earnings report, although it was all due to their trading revenue!
Recapping Asia yesterday, the China bears made their first swipe sending stocks down on the Shanghai Comp by nearly 2% while the Hang Seng moved in a little further in what looks like an “echo” reaction following the RRR cut on the weekend.