Wall Street bids farewell to 2019 by breaking another record: last night, for the first time, the Nasdaq exceeded 9 points, closing at 9.022. The S&P 500 index (+0,51%) and the Dow Jones (+0,37%) were not far behind, both at highs. Amazon dominated the scene (+4,4%), on the wave of sales results between November and December: according to Mastercard, consumption from Thanksgiving to Christmas rose by 19% compared to a year ago thanks to the boom in online shopping: Jeff Bezos' company alone occupies 14,6% of the market.
Same script this morning for Asian stock exchanges, close to the highs of the last 18 months. Tokyo leaves 2019 with a 20% increase, the best result since 2013, despite the slowdown in the industry in November. The Chinese stock exchanges (+0,6%) and Hong Kong (+1,1%) also rose. China's industrial earnings climbed 5,4% in November, the first gain after three straight months of declines.
OIL RISES, GOLD AT HIGHEST SINCE 2010
The price lists were also galvanized by the confirmations, both from the USA and from China, of the imminent signing of the agreement on duties and the positive trend of the American labor market.
Oil is also on the rise: Brent crude is at 67,79 dollars a barrel, +0,9% to its highest level since September. In the United States, crude inventories are expected to have fallen by 1,5 million barrels this week.
Gold (+0,8% to $1.513) is on the fifth consecutive day of gains. At these price levels, the yellow metal is about to close the best week in the last four months and the best year since 2010.
T bonds, the traditional refuge in the most turbulent phases, are slowing down: the 1,89-year bond trades at 7% (+XNUMX basis points).
HERE COMES THE MILLEPROROGHE, CLASH ON ATLANTIA
It is easy to predict a bullish closure also for the European markets.
Piazza Affari, up 29,9% since the beginning of the year, still has to deal with the fibrillation of politics. The text of the text should be delivered to the Quirinale today Milleproroghe decree, awaiting the conversion into law which promises to be complicated, because there is no agreement on motorway concessions and Atlantia threatens billionaire appeals.
WORLD EXCHANGES ARE WORTH 90.000 BILLION
The markets are thus starting to say goodbye to a golden 2019. According to calculations by Deutsche Bank, the value of world stock exchanges grew by 17 trillion dollars during the year, for a value approaching 90.000 trillion. Piazza Affari is no exception, which reopens its doors today after Christmas, with an increase of 29,90% since the beginning of the year. But, while awaiting the final ranking for 2019, observers have also focused on other numbers.
Reuters notes that, contrary to expectations at the beginning of the decade, emerging markets have been the rear of the rankings: the emerging markets index recorded a gain of 15% against 104% for the global index. At the bottom of the list are Greece, Türkiye and the Czech Republic. Among the best Thailand, Philippines and Taiwan.
COBALT, NICKEL AND COFFEE IN THE GUINNESS OF RECORDS
No less surprising is the balance of the pound, which closes the year with a gain of 2,5% against the dollar, the second best performance of the year.
The Financial Times underlines the dizzying fluctuations of the 100-year bond issued by Austria in 2017 at 2,1%. Last August, at the time when market yields fell the most, the stock had fallen to 0,9%, while the quotation recorded a capital gain over the value of the issue of more than 200%. After the slowdown in recent months, the gain for 2019 is still above 50%.
The earnings of those who bet on Athens Bonds were respectable: +23% over the course of the year. Ten-year bonds yield 1,16% today, less than BTPs.
Among the raw materials, oil (+25%) showed a strong recovery, with a more than decent performance. It was the year of palladium which, with a performance of more than 6%, beat gold for the first time, leaping above $2.000 an ounce. The boom is linked to catalytic converters, ie the anti-pollution standards approved this year.
Nickel is also on a roller coaster: +33% after exceeding 70%. The fever in this case is linked to the production of batteries for electric cars.
Coffee is also in great evidence (+27%), under the pressure of the Brazilian frosts that have affected the crops.
