MILANO – 9.30 am. Opening with a cautious rise for Western stock exchanges, after the fluctuating trend in Asia and with the issue of inflation that continues to occupy the scene. Treasury yields have started to rise again in the area of 2.9% with the bet for more aggressive moves by central banks in an attempt to counter prices: it is likely that some further indication will come from the Beige book of the Federal reserve, which takes stock on the trend of the first economy in the world. Milan rose by 0.6%, in London the Ftse 100 rose by 0.22%, in Paris the Cac 40 by 0.62% while in Frankfurt the Dax rose by 0.63%.
Future up on Wall Street after yesterday’s meeting between the US president Joe Biden and that of the Fed Jerome Powell. Biden has assured that he will provide the Federal Reserve with all the space and independence it needs to fight high inflation. The meeting took place in view of the next moves by the Fed, which is expected to aggressively raise rates by half a percentage point in June and July. Futures on the Dow Jones gain 0.44%, those on the Nasdaq register a progress of 0.15% and those on the S&P 500 mark a + 0.29%. Inflation at the center of thoughts also for the US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, which admitted it was unable to anticipate how long inflation would continue to plague US consumers. “I think I was wrong then on the path that inflation would take,” Yellen said in an interview with Wolf Blitzer on the Cnn answering a question about his statements a year ago that inflation represented only a “small risk”.
Asian stocks mixed after data recorded a slowdown in manufacturing activity in Asia in May. Although Covid restrictions have been lifted in some Chinese cities, the impact of the lockdowns continues to weigh on trust and demand. Tokyo earn 0.55%, Shanghai moves back by 0.67% e Hong Kong drops 0.90%, despite the authorities having started a gradual reopening of activities and transport in the most important industrial hub in China, after two months of drastic lockdowns. Only it is closed for a holiday. The new decline in Chinese manufacturing in May is worth noting today, with the IHS Markit-Caixin PMI indicator – an index built on the activity of purchasing managers – which stood at 48.1 points in May, from 46 in April: still contraction (below 50 points), but moderate.
Among the commodities, the price of the Petroleum it is volatile after the European agreement to put a stop to the Russian one and in view of tomorrow’s OPEC + meeting: the cartel has on the table, as usual, the pace of increase in production. There is also the gradual lifting of anti-Covid restrictions in China to hold the spot on the energy front. Meanwhile, Brent fell 5.65% to 115.89 dollars a barrel after yesterday hitting the highest levels since March 9 at 124.64 dollars. The WTI rose by 0.35% to 115.08 dollars a barrel.
On the foreign exchange front, theeuro opens with a drop above $ 1.07 despite the new inflation record recorded in the Eurozone raising expectations for an intervention by the ECB; on the other hand, the fear is that too strong a squeeze could lead to a recession. The single currency changes hands for 1.0709 dollars and 138.37 yen. Dollar / yen at 129.21.