European stocks lifted and bond prices fell across the euro area on Wednesday as investors bet an earlier flight to safety sparked by fears about the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant was overdone, according to Reuters.
With a key European Central Bank meeting on Thursday which is expected to convey a dovish tone and provide a further boost, the benchmark STOXX index of the region’s 600 largest shares rose 0.5%.
U.S. Treasury yields rose 5 basis points (bps) in London trade and Germany’s 10-year Bund yield reversed early falls, trading 2 bps higher on the day at -0.40%, as a sense of calm crept back into European markets.
The rally in risk assets followed an earlier rush to safe havens such as the dollar and U.S. Treasuries, as a renewed surge in infections globally displaced inflation as investors’ primary concern.
„The moves had gone too far,” said Jan von Gerich, chief analyst at Nordea.
U.S. stocks looked unlikely to spoil the mood, with S&P 500 futures up 0.42%.
The shift from a debate over whether price spikes are transitory to outright fear of the impact of the latest COVID-19 surge had pushed the U.S. 10-year yield down more than 20 basis points in the space of a week as investors have moved into safe-haven assets.
Gold likewise lost some of its recent safe-haven lustrs on Wednesday, with spot prices falling 0.28% by 1009 GMT as investors preferred the dollar.