Stocks in Europe ended a tumultuous week on a high on Friday, with the Stoxx Europe 600 rising by 0.3%. This is the benchmark index’s second straight daily rise following a selloff resulting from flailing hopes for an incoming interest rate cut by the European Central Bank.
Across the pond, U.S. futures listed on the New York Stock Exchange were on the rise, with those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 exceeding expectations with a 0.7% rise. Contracts listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%, while those on the benchmark S&P 500 climbed 0.4%.
Much like the European Central Bank, expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates sooner rather than later are also flailing.
“We’re leaning more towards a June rate cut and then a recalibration,” senior investment strategist Laura Cooper of BlackRock International Ltd. revealed. “There is a degree of repricing that still needs to come through that adds to our view that there’s going to be a bit of volatility ahead,” she added, explaining that markets have been overconfident in terms of their expectations.