In Asia, the Nikkei resists oscillating around zero growth, despite the yen strengthening against the dollar, reaching 118,8 in the early Japanese afternoon. Both the yen and gold have a reputation as safe-haven assets, and the yellow metal has risen sharply above 1200 and reaches 1214 $/ounce.
Wall Street's further decline hit stock markets that had grown more and were therefore ripe for a correction. The CSI300 Shanghai Composite index is down about 1%, after rising 64% on the year yesterday, the best performing stock market.
Behind this decline are Chinese energy companies which, like their sisters around the world, suffer from the low price of crude oil. However, the Chinese index recorded a p/e of 12,5: still low by international comparison, although clearly higher than in the past. Oil collapsed to 47,5 $/b (WTI – Brent marks 50,6) and US inventories are still very high.
The euro weakens to 1,188 against the dollar, and European chancelleries are looking forward to the upcoming elections in Greece. Stock futures on Wall Street recovered slightly (+0,2%).
