With a fall of around 1%, Asian stock markets are expressing growing doubts about the imminence of a third injection of money by the Federal Reserve. The knot will be untied by Bernanke in the imminent Jackson Hole speech: a speech which, however, will limit itself to saying that the third round of 'Quantitative Easing' is possible but not necessarily imminent. It all depends on how the American economy evolves, an economy that continues to grow albeit gradually. Markets in Asia also reacted to weak retail sales in Japan and falling business confidence in South Korea.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index is on the verge of canceling out the month's gains, while the MSCI world index remains about 2% ahead of 30 days ago, and will therefore in all probability close the month with a 'plus' sign: it would be the third consecutive month of growth. The euro remains between 1,25 and 1,26 while oil, despite geopolitical and meteorological fears about supply, has fallen below 95.
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