MILANO – All in all, a moment of calm on the markets is confirmed, although in the background there remain the numerous elements of tension that characterize this historical period: the conflict in Ukraine with the repercussions on energy prices, the squeezing of central banks and the risk of slip into recession. The technology sector was at the center of the positive trend: yesterday Wall Street closed a very volatile session higher, with good gains recorded among defensive stocks which managed to offset the declines in financials, industrials and oil. Dow Jones futures are up 0.21% today, S&P 500 futures up 0.25% while Nasdaq futures are up 0.39%. The recovery of bond prices is also holding.
Meanwhile, a promotion for American banks arrives from the US, according to the Fed’s stress tests: “They continue to have strong levels of capitalization, allowing them to continue lending to households and businesses during a severe recession.” All banks surveyed remain above minimum capital requirements, despite projected total losses of $ 612 billion. The aggregate ‘common equity capital ratio’, that is the bank solidity index, is projected to drop by 2.7% to drop to 9.7%, which however is still more than double the minimum required threshold. According to Bloomberg’s calculations, in light of this report card, the major US institutions will now be able to remunerate shareholders with dividends and buyback plans: analysts expect a 80 billion rain on Wall Street dollars.
In Asia it is the second positive session overall in a row. To help the quotes, the fact that the Central Bank of China it increased the liquidity injection into the banking system through open market operations, while the demand for cash by the end of the first half of the year continues to rise. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) injected 60 billion yuan ($ 8.96 billion) of reverse repo in seven days, after injecting 10 billion yuan every day for the past 50 days. The deal aims to keep “half-year liquidity stable,” the PBOC said in a statement. And so Hong Kong salt of 1.64%, Taiwan 0.63% e Shanghai 0.44%. The index is also good Shenzen which advances by 0.92%. Tokyo strengthens and gains 1.13%. Only scores + 1.91%.
Among commodities, the prices of the Petroleum in early Asian exchanges. Brent futures are down 0.29% to $ 109.74 a barrel while WTI futures are down 0.03% to $ 104 a barrel. Volatility is expected in the session amid investor fears of a sharp slowdown in growth. In the United States, President Joe Biden together with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm held an emergency meeting with the major oil companies on the issue of prices without reaching concrete solutions but only agreeing to work together.