Always be careful what you wish for, because it could come true. The old joke is back in the news: those who, after filling up with fuel or paying the heating bill, sighed hoping for lower energy prices, have been satisfied. But the decline was so rapid as to generate uncertainty about the impact suffered by energy producers, both in rich and emerging countries.
Coupled with resurgent concerns over the Greek crisis, markets turned negative, with a disastrous day yesterday in both Europe and America. The reverberations arrived in Asia this morning, aggravated by the recovery of the yen which limits the gains in competitiveness of the Japanese currency. Even the surge in the Chinese stock market has come to a halt.
The euro recovered slightly, to 1,196 dollars, while gold benefited from the crisis atmosphere and again exceeded 1.200, reaching 1206 $/ounce in the early Japanese afternoon. The descent of oil does not seem to end, with prices just above 50 $/b (WTI – 53,3 for Brent). But Saudi Arabia has priced oil prices higher for Asia, perhaps signaling that the decline has been too much.
Wall Street futures are not rebounding.
