Despite the strong closing on Wall Street (the S&P 500 was close to an all-time high) the MSCI Asia Pacific regional index is on track to record a loss of about 0,8% on last week, while tensions worsen in Ukraine. The crisis is starting to affect commodities, from nickel to wheat: rising prices reflect fears of supply bottlenecks (Ukraine is the world's sixth largest exporter of wheat).
In China, however, indicators of possible financial crises signal the return of conditions favorable to risk, and the government has assured that it has the means to prevent dangerous slowdowns in growth. In Japan, the first data relating to the effects on prices of the three-point increase in VAT (from 5 to 8%) were released this morning, in relation to the Tokyo metropolitan area. Inflation – and this is good news for Japan – accelerated from 1% annualized in March to 2,7% in April. The Nikkei loses little, about 0,2%.
In the currency field, the Chinese currency reached its weakest level for a year now, at 6,256 against the dollar. The euro and the yen (1,383 and 102,32) are stable on yesterday's levels, while gold remains below the 1300 level and WTI oil is close to 102 $/b.
