The fear of new lockdowns in the world due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the oil price plummet of about 3.50% and the announcement on the rates of the People’s Bank of China are the factors that are conditioning global equities.
The World Health Organization has warned that the number of cases of the new variant of Covid is doubling within 1.5-3 days in those particularly affected areas. In Europe, the Netherlands entered lockdown on Sunday: the lockdown will last at least until next January 14th.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index closed the session down 2.13; the Seoul stock exchange was also bad -1.74%, Sidney limited the damages with a decrease of 0.16%; Hong Kong falls by 1.90%, Shanghai is -1%.
Protagonist in Asia was the announcement by the People’s Bank of China – the central bank of China – which cut the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) to 3.80%, compared to the previous 3.85%.
The rate has been cut for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The five-year rate was left unchanged at 4.65%.
LPR rates are the benchmark lending rates that are set monthly by 18 Chinese banks.
It should be noted that, during the annual conference on the economy organized by the Beijing government at the beginning of this month, the leaders of the country stressed that in the course of 2022 the focus will be mainly on stability.
The authorities specified in particular that “prudent monetary policies should be flexible and appropriate”, and that “and liquidity must be kept at a large and reasonable level”.
Oil prices plummet, with the WTI contract plummeting 3.71% to $ 68.23 a barrel, and the Brent contract retreating 3.50% to $ 70.95.