(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – The intervention of the Central Bank of China in support of economic growth and the reassuring statements of the scientific community on the symptoms related to the Omicron variant of Covid support the European stock exchanges, which consolidate the positions conquered yesterday and score new increases. The futures on Wall Street were also positive after the US stock exchange closed with a strong rise yesterday.
Investors particularly welcome the People’s bank of China’s decision to cut the required reserve rate for banks by half a point, effectively “freeing up” 1.2 trillion yuan ($ 188 billion) for possible investments. Beijing is thus also aiming to support the real estate sector put under pressure by the Evergrande collapse. Premier Li Keqiang also stressed that there is room for recourse to a range of monetary policy tools. Across Europe, the technology sector rebounds after recent declines, also supported by Intel’s intention to list its subsidiary Mobileye.
The FTSE MIB di Piazza Affari thus gains ground and rises above 27 thousand points driven by Pirelli & C e Stmicroelectronics. Eyes on Stellantis, which announced the new tech strategy from which it aims to obtain 20 billion annual revenues by 2030.
US productivity collapses but positive futures
Futures indicate a positive opening on Wall Street. Yesterday, very positive session, after the strong drops last week due to the fear for Omicron. The new variant of the coronavirus is now less scary: Dr Anthony Fauci, the White House top advisor on coronavirus, said “there are encouraging signs about the symptoms of the Omicron variant and the severity of the disease”. In the meantime, this variant has been identified in at least 20 US states. Yesterday, then, the news that New York City will impose the compulsory vaccination against the coronavirus for all workers in the private sector starting from December 27; moreover, children between 5 and 11 years old will be able to participate in dinners, sports and indoor entertainment activities only if vaccinated. Futures on the Dow Jones are up 357 points (+ 1.01%), those on the S&P 500 earn 60.75 points (+ 1.32%), those on the Nasdaq add 287 points (+ 1.81%).
Meanwhile, the trade deficit in the United States, in October, decreased by 17.6% compared to the previous month, when it had risen to 81.4 billion dollars, a record (revised figure from the initial 80.9 billion). Recorded a decline to $ 67.1 billion, versus expectations for a figure of $ 67 billion; the Commerce Department announced. In the third quarter of 2021, however, productivity in the United States collapsed, recording a figure below expectations. According to the second reading of the data released by the Department of Labor, the index obtained by dividing production by the number of hours worked decreased at the annualized rate of 5.2% compared to the previous three months, against expectations for -5%, or in line with the preliminary reading; in the second quarter, an increase of 2.3% was recorded. This was the worst quarterly decline in 40 years.
–
:strip_icc():format(jpeg)/kly-media-production/medias/3056478/original/090861600_1582253298-008275700_1581930166-asteroid7.jpg "Earth Is Passed By An Asteroid As Big As The US Pentagon")