Yesterday world financial markets closed mainly on the rise due to the news from China. As of 1 March 2015, the People’s Bank of China lowered the key interest rate by 0.25%, down to 5.35%. The intention is to shore up economic growth and avert deflation. Markets reacted positively to this news as growth of the second world largest economy would lead to increased oil demand.
However, European equity was an exception to the general upward tendency – the British FTSE 100 fell 0.09 percent down to 6,940.64 points, the German DAX grew 0.08 percent up to 11,410.36 points while the French CAC 40 dropped 0.69 percent and finished the trading session at 4,917.32 points.
In Russia, the MICEX index advanced 1.39 percent up to 1,783.34 points, and the RTS index grew 0.77 percent up to 903.56 points.
In the USA, the Dow Jones added 0.86 percent getting to 18,288.63 points, the S&P 500 grew 0.61 percent up to 2,117.39 points, and the NASDAQ gained 0.9 percent making 5,008.10 points.
The NYMEX cost of WTI oil futures for April went up by $0.39 and reached $49.98 a barrel. On London’s ICE, the price of Brent oil futures for April rose by $0.88 and made $60.42 a barrel. Oil prices were also influenced by a decreased number of oil rigs in the USA – last week the number went down by 43 units or 3.28%, which implies a drop in supply on the oil market.
On the Forex market, EUR/USD is still making no headway.
Anna Gorenkova
NordFX Analyst