(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – European stock exchanges cautious, in the aftermath of a wait-and-see session, in view of the new sanctions on Russia. Therefore, the good performance of Wall Street and Asia is not enough (but Hong Kong and China are closed for holidays) to reassure investors who remain at the window waiting for the announcement of the new measures against Moscow, after the accusations of having committed war crimes, while the images of the atrocities and the massacre of civilians in Bucha shook the whole world. Futures on US indices are also weak. This is how the FTSE MIB in Milan, the CAC 40 in Paris, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt, the Ftse 100 in London, the IBEX 35 in Madrid and the AEX in Amsterdam move in no particular order.
Oil prices are running, with the fear that the new sanctions that should affect their crude oil and coal, could affect supplies: Brent rises by 1.6% to 109.25 dollars while the WTI is up by 1.64 % at $ 104.97. Against the currency, the dollar regains height against other currencies at 1.096. The price of gas rose slightly to 110 MwH (+ 0.43%).
Tokyo closes slightly higher with techs, caution prevails
Slightly higher for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, supported by tech stocks driven by the significant gains of the Nasdaq index on Wall Street. The further weak performance of Japanese household consumption in February reinforced the likelihood of a relapse of the Japanese economy in the first quarter, prompting investors to be cautious. At the end of the trade, the Nikkei Leadership Index closed up 0.19% to 27,787 points and the broader Topix index was down 0.22% to 1949.33 points.
Appointments
The macroeconomic agenda foresees for the Euro Area the Italian deficit in the fourth quarter (+ 6.2% the previous year) and the publication of the final reading of the SME indices for March, processed through a survey of purchasing managers of manufacturing and service companies. Estimates indicate a decline in the services sector in particular, although always above the 50 points that separate growth expectations from contraction expectations. Also in the United States are published Ism indices for March on the prospects drawn by companies for the economic activity of companies in the coming months.
Fed minutes in the crosshairs
The focus, however, is on the publication of minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reserve expected tomorrow, from which investors will seek information on the process of raising interest rates. The market estimates the probability of a 50 basis point increase (0.5%) in both May and June to be 80%.