MILANO – Another day of caution on global markets. European stock exchanges start trading weakly, despite new positive signals from macro data on the continent. In Germany, industrial production rose by 2% in February, more than expected, mainly driven by the automotive sector. Good news that only partially compensates for the disappointing data that arrived yesterday from the US labor market, where the private sector created fewer jobs than expected, with the Nasdaq losing 1.07%. Additional signals could arrive tomorrow with the March report from the Labor Department, while in the afternoon requests for new subsidies fell to 228,000 units. However, fears about global growth are also fueling the worries and indications in this sense could arrive this afternoon from the words of the number one of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva, at the opening of the Fund’s spring meetings. In Piazza Affari the spotlights are all on the Mediaset stock, after the worsening of Silvio Berlusconi’s conditions.
In Asia, all indices are down, with Tokyo which ended the session at -1.23%.
US subsidy applications drop less than expected
US jobless claims fell 18,000 to 228,000 last week. Analysts were betting on 200,000
Lane (ECB): if estimates confirmed in May, rates should be raised
“In March we had a set of macro projections for the coming months. If these projections remain on track by the time of the May meeting, a rate hike will be appropriate.” This was stated by the chief economist of the ECB, Philip Lane, in an interview with the Cyprus News Agency published on the central bank’s website. “However, we need to be scientific and data dependent, so in these weeks we need to see if incoming data supports that March projection. If they create more inflation concerns, that will move us in one direction; if they create less inflation concerns , that will move us in another direction. So I think the formula would be: if the baseline we developed before the banking stress holds, it will be appropriate to have another hike in May. However, we need to be data-dependent to assess whether that baseline is still valid at the time of our meeting in May,” he adds
L’Europa apres search
Cautious opening of the session for the European stock exchanges. Frankfurt’s Dax 30 gains 0.08% to 15,553.78 points, Paris’ Cac 40 gains 0.09% to 7,323.04 points. On the other hand, the increase in the London FTSE 100 was more marked, +0.40% to 7,692.00 points. The Madrid Ibex 35 was also substantially stable, rising by 0.07% to 9,263.25 points. The SMI of Zurich rose sharply, gaining 0.77% at 11,199.50 points. Finally, Amsterdam’s Aex performed well, gaining 0.29% at 758.01 points at the start.
Germany, industrial production rises beyond expectations
German industrial production rose 2% month-on-month in February, following an upwardly revised 3.7% increase in January and beating market forecasts for a meager 0.1% increase. The production of the automotive sector, the largest in Germany, increased by 7.6% and construction also grew (1.5%). On the other hand, energy production decreased by 1.1%.
Asian stock markets close down
Asian stocks closed lower as investors feared the impact of interest rate hikes on economic growth. The markets move in a climate of uncertainty while waiting for any indications on the next decisions of the central banks. In sharp decline Tokyo (-1.22%). On the foreign exchange market, the yen appreciates against the dollar to 131.46, as well as against the euro to a level of 143.32. Hong Kong (-0.3%), Shanghai (-0.2%) and Shenzhen (-0.3%) were also down, despite the PMI services index sponsored by the Caixin magazine at its highest since the end of 2020. Sales also on Seoul (-1.4%) while Mumbai (+0.3%) goes against the trend.