Another positive session for the Japanese stock market. Rumors about the next elections keep coming back. Shinzo Abe (whom Nobel laureate Paul Krugman warmly recommends giving up on the VAT increase planned for 2015) would like to gain strength before his popularity drops further. The performance of the Nikkei (+0,7%) is, as usual, in direct relationship with the Japanese currency: the yen has once again weakened and is at 115,7 against the dollar, again attempting to attack 116. In Shanghai, the the stock market, in the run-up to the connection with Hong Kong, lost 0,6%, however remaining at the highest levels reached in the last week. The data on Chinese industrial production also had a negative effect: the increase over the year was 7,7% against the 8% expected by analysts.
The euro is stable, around 1,244 against the dollar, and gold (1161 $/ounce) is slightly weaker than 24 hours ago. The Australian dollar fell after a central bank official said the currency was still too strong and did not rule out currency intervention. Oil weakens again, to just over 77 $/b (WTI); Brent is at 80, after briefly falling below, and the differential with WTI narrows to less than three dollars.
