MILANO – 9:45 am. An upward start for European stock exchanges, returning from a positive session that also continued on Wall Street. Eyes focused today on the resumption of negotiations between the Moscow and Kiev delegations, which meet in Istanbul. Sentiment is also encouraged by the sharp drop in the prices of commodities, such as oil and gas. From Russia there are calming signals towards the markets: the Ministry of Finance has declared that it has fully paid a coupon on the Eurobond due in 2035, the third payment since Western sanctions have questioned Russia’s ability to repay its debts in foreign currency. The Moscow ministry reported that the Russian National Settlement Depository has received $ 102 million for coupon payments. Gazprom, on the other hand, has made it known that gas supplies to the West remain “high and stable”.
In the early stages of negotiations, Milano salt of 1.3%, London salt by 0.65%, Paris adds 1.5% e Frankfurt 1.41%. On the bond markets it spread between ten-year BTPs and German Bund counterparts there is little movement around 153 points. The 10-year rate is up to 2.159%. In the currency, the euro continues to rise against the dollar and changes hands at 1.1011.
Last night, the Dow Jones gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq jumped 1.3%.
The bag of Tokyo it closed on a rebound, driven by the weak yen (yesterday at its lowest since 2015 against the dollar) and the decline in US crude oil futures. The Nikkei Index recovered 1.1% and the Topix Index gained 0.93%. The Japanese currency remains weak due to the Bank of Japan’s very accommodative monetary policy, while other central banks tighten the cordons due to inflation. In Hong Kong, the hang seng index gained 0.8% before closing, while the Shanghai stock exchange fell 0.3%, with the lockdown affecting half of China’s economic capital.
Lo yen resta, nota Bloomberg, at six-year lows against the dollar, reflecting the divergence of trajectories between the BoJ and the more aggressive Fed. The financial agency also notes that the US 10-year yield is now close to 2.5%, but the yield curve is more overheated in the short term, reflecting the market expectation for an aggressive rate hike to counter inflation. , but of uncertain economic prospects over the medium to long term.
Commodities recorded a sharp slowdown at the start of the week, due to concerns about demand coming from Asia: in China, Shanghai has decided to introduce a two-phase lockdown to deal with the new rise in covid-19 infections , triggering the fear of a possible weakening of the energy demand. Today the Petroleum opened again lower on the Asian markets where WTI futures fell 1.7% to 104.7 dollars a barrel, widening the 7% decline of yesterday’s session, Brent futures lost 1.5 % to $ 111.2. The price of the gas on the other hand, it is up at the hub of Amsterdam, a European reference, supported by expectations of a colder climate in most of the continent in the coming weeks which would increase the demand for fuel. This morning at the TTF the price rises by 6.2% to 109 euros per MWh.
Among the macro data of the day it should be noted that the level of German consumer confidence with regard to the economy, measured by the Gfk German Consumer Climate, it collapsed in February to 1.3% from the previous 4.3% measured in January. It is a key indicator, able to anticipate consumer spending, which represents a fundamental share in total economic activity. Higher figures imply greater consumer optimism. The expectation was 1.8 percent.