Prices in Asia have changed little and eyes are focused on the American data which will be communicated at 14.30 pm Italian time. Chinese stocks, which had risen sharply yesterday (over 4% for the Shanghai-Shenzhen CSI 300 index) recorded further slight gains today. The opening of trading accounts on the stock exchange is registering a very strong growth in China: greater liquidity and a wider audience of investors push the quotations. Hong Kong also rose, by 1,2%.
The Nikkei made another breakthrough as the yen leapt past 120 against the dollar. The euro recovers, to 1,238, and gold remains just above the 1200 mark: the driving force seems to have run out. The 'price war' as regards black gold is still ongoing: WTI crude oil falls back to just above $66/b following the discounts applied by Saudi Arabia. Even if at current price levels many 'fracking' extraction operations are no longer convenient in the US, prices show no signs of recovering. The impression is that the US is pressuring the Saudis to keep prices low and put Russia in difficulty.
Futures on Wall Street are stable (even those awaiting jobs).
Attachments: The Bloomberg article
