(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – The European stock exchanges are all in red, affected by the possible start of “tapering” by the Federal Reserve within the year. According to the minutes of the July meeting of the FOMC, the Fed’s monetary policy committee, bankers believe that the time has come to start preparing the tapering of the monthly government bond purchase program (80 billion ) and mortgage-backed securities (40 billion), launched to support the economy during the crisis caused by the coronavirus.
This, combined with the statements of some Fed governors, gives shape to the hypothesis of a reduction in purchases already before the end of 2021, which already weighed in the session on Wednesday 18 August on Wall Street and is favoring oil sales. and purchases on the dollar. More indications could arrive at the weekend, when the traditional one will be held Jackson Hole symposium: the meeting of the most influential central bankers on a global level will probably serve to clarify what could be the way out of the ultra-expansionary monetary policies implemented to avoid the economic and financial collapse due to the pandemic.
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Energetic under pressure, the Exor galaxy still down
In Milan, the start-up FTSE MIB briefly slipped below the 26 thousand points threshold and then reduced losses. Among the stocks highlighted in Piazza Affari, the drop in crude oil puts Tenaris, Eni and Saipem under pressure. The day appears strongly negative for the Agnelli galaxy starting from the Exor holding with the subsidiaries Stellantis, Cnh Industrial and Ferrari.
The dollar rises, the euro below 1.17. Oil on lows since May
Dollar rises after the minutes of the Fed and the euro falls below the threshold of 1.17 which had not been violated since November 2020. After the minutes from which it emerged that the tapering can start already by the end of the year. The price of crude oil is also in the red, with the WTI falling below $ 65 a barrel, returning to the levels of last May, and the Brent at around $ 67. In addition to the Fed, the indications on American inventories also weighed on crude oil, which, although down, showed an unexpected increase in gasoline reserves.
Toyota cuts production by 40%, Tokyo up 7-month lows
Sitting in the red for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which closed at 7-month lows, on the wake of Wall Street, which was weak after the publication of the Fed minutes which indicated a possible reduction in its monetary support starting from this year. Toyota’s fall (-4.5%) also weighs on the list after the Nikkei newspaper reported that the automaker will cut car production by 40%, in September, due to the lack of chips. At the end of the trade, the Nikkei index of leading stocks closed down 1.1% to 27,281.17 points and the broader Topix index of 1.35% below 1,900 points.