Today’s Stock Exchanges, January 16th. Markets, hunger for risk wins. Even Bitcoin takes advantage of this
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MILAN – A quiet start to the week for Western Stock Exchanges, orphaned by Wall Street on the day dedicated to Martin Luther King and with an ear always attentive to the Central Banks. The price lists are cautious with fluctuations around parity. While the elite of finance gathers again in attendance at the forum in Davos, Switzerland, operators are trying to grasp from the meeting of the Bank of Japan (Wednesday) and then from the publication of the minutes of the December board of the ECB, scheduled for Thursday, important signs of the support for the decision on rate hikes. The basic sentiment of the markets is however oriented towards risk, witnessed by the drop in the dollar and – to a certain extent – also by Bitcoin which returned above 21 thousand dollars over the weekend. A strong start for the queen of cryptocurrencies who has gained 28% so far in January, raising the pressure on those who had placed bearish bets, fearing a still difficult month after the blowouts of 2022. For now, this is the best start to the year for Bitcoin from +31% in January 2020, before the pandemic. A recovery that also brought the value of digital assets back above 1,000 billion dollars, lost when the FTX case exploded.
EU stock exchanges cautious after a good start
Caution prevails in Europe after a positive start that comes in the wake of the first two weeks of the year in rallying for equity markets. Piazza Affari resets the initial gains and moves on parity (-0.09%). The main continental indices also lost their initial momentum: Frankfurt rose by 0.07% as did Paris and London by 0.14%. Meanwhile, in Milan among the titles, Amplifon +2.12% and Diasorin +1.69% lengthen the pace. Saipem continues to grow (+1.37%), despite the drop in oil prices. Turnaround for Tim (+0.68%), the rumors about the resignation of Arnaud De Puyfontaine (expression of the French shareholder Vivendi) from the Tim board, a signal arriving perhaps already today in view of the board of the Tlc company on Wednesday 18 January.
Gas, the price in Amsterdam is back below 60 euros
The price of gas falls again and at the Dutch TTF hub it is back below 60 euros per megawatt hour, remaining below pre-war levels in Ukraine and down almost 60% from the December peak. The February contract is trading at 59.98 euros per megawatt hour, down 7.5%. Warmer-than-expected temperatures in Europe so far have eased gas rationing concerns. Gas inventories across Europe have hovered at around 82% in recent weeks, up from 50% a year ago and well above the five-year seasonal norm of 70%. However, Europe was the largest customer in the global liquefied natural gas market in 2022, with the EU accounting for 24% of global LNG imports.
Oil: prices falling in Asia
Oil prices fall on Asian markets even as optimism about the reopening of activities in China, which will increase fuel demand in the world’s largest importer of crude oil, is keeping prices close to the 2023 highs reached after the price surge of last week. Both benchmarks had delivered their largest weekly gains since October on Friday. WTI drops 1% to 79 dollars a barrel, Brent drops 1.12% to 84.32 dollars a barrel.
Euro still on the rise
The euro opens higher above $1.08. The single currency changed hands at 1.0844 dollars and at 138.67. The slowdown in US inflation in December continues to weigh on the greenback, making room for a slowdown in the monetary tightening initiated by the Fed. Instead, the Japanese currency strengthens, positioning itself at 127.89 against the stars and stripes, in waiting for the board meeting of the Bank of Japan which on Wednesday could announce the end of the current ultra-accommodative strategy.
Positive futures for Europe, Tokyo closes at -1.1%
A positive opening is expected for the European lists, judging by the futures. Conversely, a weak performance in Tokyo with the Nikkei index ending up down by 1.1% to 25822.32 points. The Japanese financial center is paying for the strong appreciation of the yen in recent sessions, linked in particular to growing speculation about an imminent monetary tightening by the Bank of Japan (BOJ), which meets tomorrow and the day after. The yen, meanwhile, has gained more than 3% against the dollar since the middle of last week, returning to its highest levels against the greenback since late May 2022.
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