Stock exchanges today, December 16, 2021. EU markets closed higher after the ECB. England raises rates, Turkey cuts them: lira plunging

MILANO – Positive reaction of the price lists to the moves of the central banks.

Last night the premiere was there Federal Reserve which, as expected, has taken important decisions to contain inflation: doubling the pace of closure of stimuli (purchases will drop by 30 and no more than 15 billion per month) to reach the end next March and acceleration on the number of increases in expected rates. Today the ball has passed this side of the Atlantic.

The European Central Bank, confirmed the rates, the closure of extraordinary purchases in March but increased the scope of the ordinary program and the horizon for reinvesting the securities, to have greater flexibility and continue to accompany the markets in a phase in which inflation is pressing for the close and the Omicron variant does not give security.

From the BoE instead came the first, expected up to a certain point, rate hike. The Bank of England raised interest rates by 15 basis points from 0.1% to 0.25%. The move (the first in this direction in three years) was previously expected by analysts who, however, with the spread of variante Omicron, on the other hand, they expected a postponement of monetary tightening. On the other hand, its asset purchase program at 20 billion pounds remains unchanged. Strong reaction from GBP which rose to a high of $ 1.3354 from late November levels.

Among the central banks active during the day, also pay attention to Turkey moving in the opposite direction. For the fourth time in a row Ankara has cut rates and therefore continues the collapse of the Turkish lira which touches a new all-time low of 15.67 with a decline of over 5%, thus preparing to record the worst annual performance since the 2001 financial crisis. inflation soars to 21%. It is the crusade initiated by the president Erdogan, which on the eve made a new reshuffle at its Treasury so as not to have problems carrying out its ultra-accommodative policy. Meanwhile, new negative records for the lira.

The “plus” signs were confirmed on the stock markets at the end of the session: London ends with + 1.29%, Paris +1,12%, Frankfurt +1% e Milano +0,44%. A Wall Street trades become mixed after positive opening: at the close of the European markets, the Dow Jones still advances by 0.5%, but the S&P 500 turns down at -0.1% and the Nasdaq suffers heavily, losing 1, 1%.

The Business Square looks at Tim, which last night issued the third close profit warning: after a stormy start Tim reduces losses. A State Street analyst points out the strangeness of an estimate cut 2 days before a crucial board meeting: “it’s very surprising and it’s a strange situation” for the Italian company, which faces a possible takeover bid, says James Ratzer . Carige, on the other hand, crumbles after the Interbank Fund’s “no” to Bper’s proposal for the acquisition of the Ligurian bank.

In the morning, the Asian stock exchanges have already moved into the black and the financial center of Tokyo he closed the session with a strong rise at 2.13%. The broader MSCI index of Asia Pacific equities outside of Japan is up 0.43%, Shanghai earns 0.59%, the South Korea 0.49% while the Hang Seng index of Hong Kong which dropped 0.24%, also due to persistent concerns about the crisis in the Chinese real estate sector. But above all, it outlined a scenario in which the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the Omicron variant, gives way to a series of favorable economic conditions, with inflation easing by itself, interest rates slowly rising and the rate unemployment which remains low over the next few years.

After the decisions of the ECB there has been a bit of fibrillation on the spread Btp / Bund, which touched 140 basis points and then returned and closed at 131.7 points, from 127 at yesterday’s close. The yield on Italian bonds rises to 0.967%. L’euro instead it gained ground on the greenback and closed above 1.13 dollars: the single currency changed hands at 1.1305 dollars and 128.49 yen. The greenback also lost ground against the Japanese currency at 113.65. The European currency is down against the pound at 0.8488 pence, while the British currency is up against the dollar at 1.3316.

Mixed data from the US: industrial production rose by 0.5%, below estimates but at a better level in two years. The number of construction sites started for the construction of new homes jumped in November: the increase was 11.8% on a monthly level to 1.679 million units while analysts expected 1,568 million units. Finally, the number of Americans filing new jobless claims in the week ending December 11 increased by 18,000 to 206,000, slightly above the 12,000 estimates. The previous week they had hit an all-time low of 184,000 units.

Finally, among the raw materials, in the afternoon Petroleum Wti al Nymex rose 1.03% to $ 71.60 a barrel.

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