On Wall Street, stocks are observing relatively fast action in deals and trading, lately underlined by Morgan Stanley's enhanced report. Today, the financial giant revealed that investment banking revenue rose by 56% above the analysts' steep expectations. This performance is part of a more general positive trend since other important financial giants such as Goldman Sachs (GS, Financial) and JPMorgan (JPM, Financial) also provide positive results and, thus, argue for a 'soft landing' of the US economy despite anticipations to the contrary.
The encouragement occasioned by low interest has revived the American boardrooms; however, such a view of the global financial structure is still colored with caution. Some events have started causing worried signs, especially the adverse outcomes from the leading firms of Europe, including ASML (ASML, Financial) and LVMH (LVMUY, Financial). A recently filed report by ASML stating that it has a shrinking order book has sparked selloffs throughout the Asian and European semiconductor stocks. Likewise, LVMH has said that sales to the Chinese have slowed down, pulling down more European luxury stocks.
In the case of the United States, market reactions have been positive and negative in equal measure. Currently, stock markets are flat, with indices fluctuating with slight increases and negligible declines. However, there's action in the bond market, with ten-year Treasury yields slipping for the third straight session. Internationally, markets are relatively inactive, and minor declines have been observed in Europe and Hong Kong. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 1.8% as semiconductor stocks such as Tokyo Electron dragged down the index.