MILANO – 2.00 pm. European stock exchanges move lower in the aftermath of the crash Wall Street. Yesterday, the US financial center recorded its worst session since June 2020 with the Dow Jones losing 3.56%, the Nasdaq 4.73% and the S&P 500 4.09%. The collapse of the technology sector in Asia after the Chinese giant also contributes to weakening the markets Tencent has scored its worst accounts since the company went public in 2004 thanks to the slowdown in the country’s economy. The company’s shares lose more than six points and Alibaba and Baidu are also in sharp decline.
The big mistake of the Fed and the ECB: and now there is a risk of stagflation
by Francesco Guerrera
16 Maggio 2022
However, fears of rising inflation continue to keep the markets on their toes. Also put on paper by the ECB, as emerged from the minutes of the Council of mid-April: the most recent economic developments “suggest that inflation rates will remain very high in the short term” amid the uncertainties of energy prices, with the same indicators as inflation of sources “climbed over 2% in recent months”. And it is added that “the upside risks on the inflation outlook have intensified, especially in the short term”. In the meeting, however, the risks of recession or stagnation were judged “limited”.
Europe therefore moves all with the minus sign: Milano loses 0.77% and holds better than the others: London yields 2%, Frankfurt 1.55% e Paris 1.7%. In the spotlight at Piazza Affari Generali, which announced this morning the accounts for the first quarter, with a decrease in profit compared to last year due to write-downs in Russia. In Asia Tokyo trades at -1.89% and Hong Kong also hurts, hardest hit by the tech stock debacle. On the other hand, the falls in Chinese stock exchanges were less heavy.
Among currencies, the euro opens slightly below 1.05 dollars. The single currency changes hands at 1.0487 dollars and 134.85 yen. Contributing to the strengthening of the greenback were the words of the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, who stressed that the US central bank will continue its rate hike policy until inflation falls “clearly and convincingly”. Upward opening for the spread. The spread rose to 195 points, from 192 at yesterday’s closing, with the yield of the ten-year BTP rising to 2.96%.
Among commodities, an upward start for the petrolium. WTI is traded at 110.02 dollars per barrel (+ 0.39%), Brent at 110.16 (+ 0.96%). Little moved the price of gas. In Amsterdam, the reference list for Europe, the price of methane in early trading is 93 euros per megawatt hour, down by 1.5% compared to yesterday’s closing.