(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – In the aftermath of a close in the red, the European stock exchanges move higher, supported by the good performance of some quarterly reports. The attempted rebound in energy stocks fails immediately after the start, with oil resuming its downward path. Once again, the news from Asia is driving the market, with investors appreciating the commitment of the Chinese central bank to support the economy, hit by a new spike in Covid-19 cases in the capital Beijing. Concerns remain in the background for the crisis in Ukraine, where the solution to the conflict seems far away, and for the next moves by the Federal Reserve. Technicians in the spotlight after Twitter accepted Elon Musk’s $ 44 billion offer.
Crude oil prices also recovered: WTI June futures, which in any case remain below $ 100 a barrel, recovered to $ 99.12 (+ 0.59%), while June Brent contracts rose by 0.71% to $ 103.07.
Dollar on the run crushes the euro, the yen returns as a “safe haven”
The resumption of the dollar’s run crushes the euro below 1.07 against the greenback, to the levels of March 2020. The return of a climate of risk aversionthanks to the increase in Covid cases in China and the wait for rate hikes in the US, have given new life to purchases on the greenback with the Dollar Index rose overnight to a two-year high. As a result, the euro hit a low of 1.068, a level it hadn’t seen since March 20, 2020 when it hit an intraday low of $ 1.0637. “From the ECB, for now, there are no alarm signals for the level of the single currency – observe the analysts of ActivTrades – in a constant and progressive decline that should soon begin to worry someone in Frankfurt”.
Purchases are also returning to the yen, with the single currency back below 137. “On the yen we report, after so much decline, a return of the risk off and of the Japanese currency as a safe haven asset – analysts say – considering the fact that the dollar / yen began to fall below 128 already in the session of Monday 25 April, dragging all the crosses of the Japanese currency with it, especially against the euro. As other countries raise rates – they add – while the BoJ remains accommodative, the yen will once again represent a safe haven asset, to be purchased in times of investor fear. And something, in this sense, can be glimpsed ».
Heavy week start
On the price lists it weighs the increase in Covid infections in Chinawhere a lockdown is also feared in Beijing, after the harsh closures in Shanghai and other major cities of the People’s Republic, which cause interruptions to the global supply chain.