Stocks rise, oil rebounds, Russia downgraded

Markets appear to have stabilised somewhat after the shock Swiss move on Thursday.

Bloomberg reports the market action on Friday:

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) jumped 1.3 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming a third weekly decline to 1.3 percent. Energy shares led gains as oil surged 5.3 percent. Goldman Sachs (GS) Group Inc. dropped 0.7 percent after reporting the lowest annual trading revenue since 2005. The franc weakened after soaring 23 percent yesterday and the Swiss Market Index (SMI) retreated 6 percent. Ten-year Treasury rates added 12 basis points to 1.83 percent. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3 percent and the euro slid to an 11-year low.

The improvement in US investor sentiment was matched by that in consumer sentiment. A report on Friday showed that the University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 98.2, the highest since January 2004, from 93.6 in December.

Investor sentiment in Europe also mostly improved.

Italy’s 10-year yield reached a record-low 1.64 percent. Switzerland’s 10-year yield turned negative for the first time, reaching minus 0.031 percent...

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.1 percent to the highest since 2008, as the SNB move fueled speculation the ECB will act.

Greece was a notable exception.

Greece’s three-year note yield jumped 89 basis points to 11.07 percent.

Russia is also facing similar prospects after getting its credit rating downgraded by Moody's.

Russia’s credit rating was cut to the lowest investment grade by Moody’s Investors Service as plunging oil prices and the worst currency crisis since 1998 drag on growth.

Moody’s lowered the country to Baa3, one step above junk, from Baa2. The credit grade matches those of Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. The rating, on par with India and Turkey, is on review for a further reduction, Moody’s said in a statement.