London and India, Monday, 20 December 2021
Joining a global selloff, European markets slumped 2% on Monday, as the Netherlands went into lockdown and a number of countries announced restrictions to travellers from the UK. Investors worry about the impact of the new lockdowns and restrictions, on the prospects for economic growth taking into account the rising inflation and faster than expected policy tightening by major central banks.
Currently in Europe:
STOXX Europe 600: −7.06 (1.49%) at 466.84as of Dec 20, 12:26 PM GMT+1
FTSE 100 in London: −81.08 (1.12%) at 7,188.84 as of Dec 20, 11:44 AM GMT
DAX 30 in Germany: −277.29 (1.79%) at 15,254.40 as of Dec 20, 12:30 PM GMT+1
CAC 40 in France: −78.51 (1.13%) at 6,848.12 as of Dec 20, 12:31 PM GMT+1
FTSE MIB 30 in Italy: −530.73 (1.99%) at 26,079.86 as of Dec 20, 12:47 PM GMT+1
IBEX 35 in Spain: −113.10 (1.36%) at 8,198.50 as of Dec 20, 12:33 PM GMT+1
Earlier in Asia:
Meanwhile, Asian markets closed lower on Monday, amid inflation and the omicron variant concerns.
Asia Dow (blue chip): - 66.42 points, or 1.78%, to close at around 3,669 points
Nikkei 225 in Tokyo: - 608 points, or 2.13%, to 27,937
Hang Seng:- 447.77 points, or 1.93%, to 22,744
Shanghai Stock Exchange: - 38.76 points, or 1.07%, to 3,593
Sensex in India: -1,358 points, or 2.38%, to close at 55,653 points
Singapore index: -8.70 points, or 0.28%, to 3,120
China’s central bank is making the news by cutting interest rates for the first time since the pandemic, despite a “hawk” approach by the UK and US. It reduced its policy rate by 5 basis points (100 basis points = 1%), to 3.80%.
This action came on the aftermath of the bank’s liquidity injection of 1.2 trillion Chinese yuan ($174 billion) into the market last week.
The bank however, decided to keep its five-year LPR unchanged at 4.65%
(Midday market update by: The Decision Maker teams in London and India)
