European stock exchanges collapse under the weight of fears about new infections, in turn linked to the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19. And the Milanese stock market does not escape the sales, closing the day with a daily collapse such as had not been seen for nine months: the Ftse Mib lost 3.34% to 23,965 points. Frankfurt, on the other hand, is back by 2.69%, London by 2.32% and Paris by 2.54%.
The new thud in oil also made the markets nervous, with European Brent that in the late afternoon was down by 5.41% to 69.61 dollars in London, while the US WTI for August deliveries was down by 6.06% to $ 67.46 in New York. To weigh, in this case, was the go-ahead from OPEC +, not without tension, for a gradual increase in production, despite doubts about the resilience of global energy demand.
If that were not enough, to complicate the picture for the markets, are the uncertainties about the moves of central banks and especially the US Fed, in light of the rise above inflation expectations, which some are beginning to believe may not be as transitory as the authorities monetary policy they think.