Today’s Stock Exchanges, November 24th. Flat EU markets, today it’s the ECB’s turn. Price caps too high, energy under tension

Today's Stock Exchanges, November 24th.  Flat EU markets, today it's the ECB's turn.  Price caps too high, energy under tension

[ad_1]

MILAN – A flat opening is announced for the European stock exchanges, which remain orphaned by Wall Street for Thanksgiving. While investors are taking a breather on the wave of Fed minutes yesterday which showed that interest rate hikes could be softer in the next meetings, even if overall some governors expect the cost of money to be higher than initial expectations at the end of the cycle, today we look at the BCE. In fact, the Eurotower will publish its minutes of the last Governing Council. For now, the prospect of a slowdown in US interest rate hikes is driving the single currency higher on the greenback.

The gas market is still under tension, with the awaited meeting of EU energy ministers after the proposal for a very high European price cap. Yesterday the prices at the TTF in Amsterdam rose by more than 8%, reaching almost 130 euros per megawatt hour. On the other hand, the prices of the Petroleum, at a two-month low, following the G7’s proposal for a price cap for Russian oil considered by investors to be higher than current negotiation levels. Futures on Brent lose 0.57% to 84.92 dollars a barrel while on WTI they lose 0.51% and change hands at 77.54 dollars a barrel.

Btp rate down, spread stable

Stable opening at 187 points for the spread between 10-year BTPs and their German Bund counterparts. On the other hand, the rate of return of the Italian BTP fell, from 3.799% at yesterday’s close to 3.731%, thus touching new lows.

Atlantia, the Benetton-Blackstone takeover bid exceeds 90%

The voluntary public purchase offer promoted by Schema Alfa on Atlantia exceeds 90% of the issuer’s share capital, it will therefore be possible to proceed with the delisting of the company. This was reported by Schema Alfa in a note, according to which the reopening of the offer, which began last November 21st, will conclude tomorrow at 5.30 pm. Schema Alfa “intends to implement” the delisting “as soon as possible in the following weeks”.

Tokyo closed higher

Tokyo Stock Exchange closed higher on the heels of the Fed minutes and thus recovering Wall Street’s gains after a holiday day. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.95% to 28,383 points while the broader Topix index rose 1.21% to finish at 2,018.80.

EU stock exchanges, flat futures. The euro goes up

The European stock exchanges are starting a flat session: futures on the Eurostoxx 50 rise by 0.05% while those on the Dax drop by 0.03%. Instead, contracts on the FTSE 100 advanced by 0.03%.

While on the one hand investors are taking a breather on the wave of yesterday’s Fed minutes which showed that rate hikes could be softer in the next meetings, there is anticipation for the minutes of the ECB, which will be published during the day . In the meantime, investors are encouraged by the prospect of a slowdown in interest rate hikes and this can be seen in the exchange rates: the single currency advances against the greenback to 1.0437 while it is down against the yen to 144.84. Dollar/yen at 138.80.

Contrasted Asian stock exchanges

The Asian stock exchanges are mixed: if on the one hand they breathe a sigh of relief on the wave of the Fed minutes which suggest a slowdown in interest rate hikes, and also on the decision of the Bank of Korea to increase them by only 25 basis points, on the other, investors are worried about the resurgence of Covid cases in China. There is also a lot of skepticism that Beijing’s plan to reduce the bank’s reserve ratio could revive the economic recovery. Tokyo finished up 0.95%, now Shanghai is down 0.26% while Hong Kong is up 0.62%. Mainland China’s SZSE fell 0.58%, Taiwan finished up 1.20%. Korean Kospi closed the session up 0.95%.

Wall Street rallied after the Fed last night

It was higher yesterday on Wall Street after the latest Fed meeting minutes showed that the central bank is likely to slow its pace of interest rate hikes. The Dow Jones gained 97.01 points (+0.28%), the S&P 500 was up 23.88 points (+0.60%), the Nasdaq composite closed up 110.91 points (+0 .99%). Most members of the FOMC, the Federal Reserve body responsible for monetary policy, believe that a slowdown in interest rate hikes will be needed “soon”, given the impact of central bank policy on the economy.

[ad_2]

Source link