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(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – European stock markets are in the red, in the wake of yesterday’s losses on Wall Street and the new declines in Asian stock exchanges. Wall Street indices lost ground after better-than-expected retail sales data once again provided arguments for Fed hawks. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Chairman Neel Kashkari confirmed this stance, reiterating that, while down, inflation “is still too high”. The market therefore fears that rates could remain high for longer, even if at the moment futures on Fed Funds continue to consider the maintenance of the status quo at the September meeting of the US central bank as 90% probable.
In the currency market, the euro changed hands at $1.0924 from 1.0919 at Monday’s close. The single currency is also worth 158.81 yen (from 158.68), while the dollar/yen ratio is 145.37 (from 145.31). On the energy front, oil prices are still declining: October futures on Brent are down 0.28% to 84.65 dollars a barrel, while contracts for September on the WTI mark -0.3% to 80, 75 bucks. The price of natural gas in Amsterdam rose by 9.5% to 42.5 euros per megawatt hour.
Inflation slowing down in Great Britain
Meanwhile, UK inflation fell to a 15-month low in July on lower energy prices and slower food price increases. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said inflation was 6.8% in July, down from 7.9% in June. This is the lowest rate since February 2022. Analysts had expected a reading of 6.7% for the month.
Ruble strengthens after Central Bank move on rates
The Russian ruble strengthened after the emergency intervention of the Central Bank which raised interest rates to 12% from 8.5%. The move came after the Russian currency hit a year-and-a-half low against the US greenback, breaking the 100-rouble-to-dollar mark. The exchange rate now stands at 96.53 rubles per dollar, further strengthening from yesterday’s 97.
Tokyo closes down on Wall Street’s heels
The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed trading down by 1.46% in the wake of the correction in the US stock indexes. The Nikkei closed at 31766.82 points while the broader Topix fell 1.29% to 2260.84 points. Yesterday Tokyo had closed higher after the publication of Japanese GDP which grew by 1.5% quarter on quarter against the previous +0.9%. In today’s session, financial stocks such as Mitsui (-3.8%) and Mitsubishi Ufj Financial (-2.9%) were down.
2023-08-16 06:56:15
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