MILANO – 9:15 am. First spring session uncertain for international stock exchanges, while the Turkish lira collapses by more than 15 percentage points following the ouster of the president of the central bank – Nacil Agbal, a penalty shooter capable of restoring confidence in the markets after months of pressure on the local currency – by Erdogan. The governor has paid for the recently decreed rate hike to curb inflation and in his place comes the former parliamentarian Sahap Kavcioglu, former member of the AKP of Erdogan and economic commentator of the pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak. The Turkish currency stood at 8.47 against the dollar in early trading in Asia, up from 7.22 at the end of last week. Paradoxically, Ankara’s currency is now just a few steps away from the lows it had recorded before Agbal arrived.
The global market situation is also weak due to the many points of tension suggested by the news of the last few hours. In Europe, the vaccination campaign is worrying that it needs a shot and could put the Old Continent on a collision course with the UK. There is also concern that Germany may extend its restrictions. Even on the US-China front, the barometer has returned to bad weather, with the accusations directed at Tesla by Elon Musk of being a vehicle of “espionage” by the American industry with respect to the habits of Asian consumers. Milano loses 0.5% in startup, Frankfurt the 0.4% yields, Paris 0.75% e London it moves back by 0.8 per cent.
The new maxi-contract of Saipem collected by Qatargas worth over a billion dollars and related to the North Field Production Sustainability Pipelines Project, located off the north-eastern coast of the Qatar peninsula. The spread between ten-year BTPs and German Bund counterparts, it opens at 96.6 points, stable compared to Friday’s closing. The yield on Italian bonds falls to 0.641%. L’euro opens down below $ 1.19. The single currency changes hands for 1,883 euros and 129.17 yen. The exchange rate between the greenback and the Japanese currency remained stable at 108.70.
Uncertainties that have already weighed on Tokyo Stock Exchange, which closed the first session of the week with a sustained decline, in the wake of Friday’s mixed closure of the US stock indices, while the news coming from the Japanese Renesas weighs on the technology sector, already under pressure, which has revised downwards estimates on semiconductor supplies after a fire that affected one of its factories on Sunday. The Nikkei lost 2.07% to 29,174.15, leaving over 617 points on the ground. The People’s Bank of China – the central bank of China – left unchanged the one-year and five-year loan prime rate (LPR) rates at 3.85% and 4.65% respectively, as expected. LPR rates are the benchmark lending rates that are set monthly by 18 Chinese banks.
Wall Street has just returned from a weak session, and during the week the balance was negative: in the last eighth, the Dow Jones lost 0.5%, the S & P500 and the Nasdaq 0.8%.
The prices of the Petroleum the general uncertainty pays off with a sharp decline in the Asian markets, also linked to the increase in US stocks, the delays in the European vaccination campaign and the renewed fears that the closures of activities in Europe could slow down the recovery in fuel demand. The WTI futures contract drops 1.27% to $ 60.63 while Brent falls 1.21% to $ 63.75.
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