(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – After the positive debut of 2022, the European markets are trying to do an encore, with the main indices moving up in the early stages of trading. The boost also comes from the record close for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 at the end of the first session of the year on Wall Street, characterized by the strong rise in Tesla’s stock and by the record of Apple, which became the first company in the world with a capitalization of 3,000 billion dollars. An optimism that, however, has to deal with diffusion of the Omicron variant, with investors evaluating the impacts of restrictions on global economic recovery (and energy demand).
Germany, in November + 0.6% retail sales
Last November in Germany, German retail sales rose by 0.6% at an adjusted level compared to the previous month. On a trend level, compared to November 2020, sales fell by 2.9 percent. In the whole of 2021, an increase of 0.9% is estimated compared to 2020.
Weak oil, expected for Opec + meeting
After the choice of the next secretary general, the Kuwaiti Haitham al-Ghais, a veteran of the oil industry, who will lead the cartel starting in August, when the two consecutive terms of Nigerian Mohammed Barkindo end, the producing countries return to get together. On the afternoon of Tuesday 4, in the expanded version of OPEC +, with Russia and other allies, the meeting should not reserve any news: even in February, despite the surge in infections from Covid, there should be an increase in production quotas from 400 thousand barrels per day Meanwhile, oil is moving down from its eve of levels.
Tokyo closes up 1.7% with the yen at its lowest in 5 years
The Tokyo Stock Exchange celebrates the beginning of the year, supported by the yen at its 5-year low against the dollar and by theWall Street optimism compared to the impact of the Omicron variant on the economy. The leading Nikkei index closed 1.77% higher at 29,301.79 points while the broader Topix index gained 1.9% to 2,030.22 points. In particular, Tokyo benefited from a yen which fell to its lowest level against the dollar since January 2017, reaching 115.82 yen per dollar, an event in favor of Japanese exporting companies. In 2021 the Japanese currency lost 10% of its value against the dollar as optimism about global economic growth pushed US government bond yields up and dampened reliance on safe haven assets such as the yen.
The rest of the Asian stock exchanges, China in the lead, closed the session below par, with Beijing assuming a new squeeze on the cybersecurity front, thus penalizing the sector’s high-tech stocks.