Market Information Wednesday 20 May 2026

Accelerating inflation has pushed the U.S. real fed funds rate below zero for the first time in three years, leaving the Fed and other major central banks facing deeply negative inflation-adjusted policy rates amid one of the largest energy shocks in history. The ECB’s real policy rate stands at negative 1%, while financial conditions in the U.S. are the loosest in four years according to Goldman Sachs, with the Philadelphia Fed forecasting headline CPI of 6% this quarter. Incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh faces a difficult task, with the bond market increasingly signalling that rate hikes can no longer be deferred.

Taiwan and South Korea have surged past several long-established Western bourses in global stock market rankings, with Taiwan overtaking Canada to become the world’s sixth-largest market at $4.7 trillion and South Korea leapfrogging the U.K. into eighth place at $4.4 trillion, driven by AI-linked semiconductor demand. TSMC alone accounts for more than 40% of Taiwan’s market capitalisation, while Samsung and SK Hynix together make up a record 42.2% of South Korea’s Kospi, effectively turning both indices into AI and semiconductor proxies. The concentration raises risks however, with foreign investors recently dumping roughly $13 billion in South Korean stocks, prompting warnings of growing concentration risk across Asian portfolios.

Over 47,000 Samsung Electronics workers will strike from Thursday after wage talks collapsed, sending shares 3% lower, with the dispute centred on demands for performance bonuses equivalent to 15% of operating profit and the removal of bonus payout caps. Samsung rejected a mediation proposal from South Korea’s National Labor Relations Commission, citing “excessive demands” that would undermine fundamental management principles. The South Korean government signalled it may invoke emergency powers to suspend the strike for 30 days if disruption escalates, as the action threatens output at one of the world’s leading semiconductor producers.

The 6M Euribor increased with 3 basis points to 2.59% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap increased with 4 basis points to 3.22% compared to previous business day.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.