Mario Draghi has at the very least pulled off a great coup of expectations management. On Thursday he said exactly what everyone expected him to say. Markets had already rallied in hope for more than a month ahead of his announcement. This might usually be the cue for a sell-off, but instead the euro held steady, while peripheral bond and stock markets went to the races.
Spain’s 10-year yield is now below 6 per cent, while the buying opportunity when this risk-on wave started now looks to have been immense. Spanish shares (as measured by the Ibex) are up by a third in the two months, while Eurozone bank stocks (as measured by the FTSE Eurofirst index) have gained more than 50 per cent. I discussed all of this with Jamie Chisholm in the first of the new series of Authers’ Notes:
The larger questions are whether this can continue, and if there is any way to time the risk-on and risk-off waves. Read more
James Mackintosh is the Financial Times' Investment Editor, writing and presenting the daily Short View column and video. In 16 years at the FT his posts have included comment editor, motor industry editor and hedge funds correspondent, as well as spells in the Parliamentary lobby and Paris. He was the first reporter hired for FT.com, joining two weeks before it launched.
John Authers is the Financial Times' Senior Investment Columnist, writing the Saturday Long View and a regular Monday column. In a 22-year career at the FT, his previous posts have included global head of the Lex column, investment editor, US markets editor, Mexico City bureau chief and US banking correspondent. His latest book is The Fearful Rise of Markets. 