Markets stable in Asia, futures on London and New York are good – gold falls
The regional index MSCI Asia-Pacific it fluctuated between -0,1 and +0,1% on this first day of the week, thus stopping at the levels reached after five days of steady progress last week.
The beginning of the talks between the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia in Berlin iIndicates a slight easing of geopolitical risk, which the markets are realizing. In China, house prices fell in 64 of the 70 cities surveyed in July: the reason lies in the tighter conditions for accessing real estate loans; a factor that more than compensated for the easing on real estate at the local level. The Shanghai-Shenzen index is growing by 0,4%, approaching a year high. In Tokyo, the stock market is stable.
In Australia the 'misery index' - the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate - reached 6,4 (due to a job loss that jumped to 9,4% of the workforce), the maximum since 2008 , raising expectations of a further rate cut.
The euro is a little stronger, at 1,34 against the dollar, and the yen also strengthened to 102,3. Following the minor international tensions, gold falls back to 1302 $/ounce; oil, after Friday's sharp decline, regains one point and reaches 96,8 $/b (WTI). Futures on London and Wall Street were positive (between +0,3 and +0,4%).
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-18/asian-stocks-head-for-longest-winning-streak-in-4-months.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-17/misery-unseen-since-2008-besets-australia-in-conundrum-for-rba.html
