(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – Concerns about the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 and the situation in Afghanistan fuel uncertainty on the markets, with European stock exchanges opening the day slightly down. On the eve, however, Wall Street managed to overcome the initial hesitation and close with nNew records for the Dow Jones and the S & P500. On the macro front, the second reading of GDP in the second quarter for the euro area is expected, while retail sales and industrial production will arrive from overseas. In the Italian evening, attention focused on the Federal Reserve: the president Jerome Powell hosts a virtual meeting with teachers and students. In the United States, the publication of the quarterly: Up to now, 87% of companies on the S & P500 have had higher-than-expected accounts between April and June, a percentage that, if confirmed at the end, would be the highest recorded in a quarter since 2008.
Tokyo down 0.36%, Covid still worries
The Tokyo Stock Exchange lost its start-up gains and closed the session in negative, still conditioned by concerns over the Delta variant of the rapidly spreading coronavirus that erased optimism about corporate earnings. Japan is struggling to overcome the fifth wave of infections and the government is ready to extend state of emergency lockdown measures in the capital and other regions until September 12. At the end of trading, the Nikkei index of leading stocks left 0.36% on the ground at 27,424 points and the broader Topix index dropped 0.44% to 1,916.55 points.
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Afghanistan and oil
At the start of the week, risk aversion was fueled by the entry of the Taliban a Accept , in Afghanistan.
Concerns about the political balance in the Middle East weighed on oil and oil stocks. Both the Brent of the North Sea and the WTI of Texas have gone down. The oil and commodities sectors lost. Also in Milan there were sales on Eni, Saipem, Tenaris.
Split bonds
It spread restarts today from 103 basis points. Yesterday the yield spread with the German 10-year Bund widened slightly with sales on the BTp and purchases on safer stocks.