Markets reacted strongly yesterday to Russia’s announcement of a significant reduction in military activity in the Kiev region. Many saw this as confirmation of progress in the negotiations and hopes of a ceasefire or even a lasting peace were boosted. European equity markets have now fully recovered their losses since the start of the war, while…
The European power spot prices inched up yesterday as the expectations of lower French nuclear availability offset the forecasts of stronger wind output and weaker demand. The day-ahead prices averaged 250.32€/MWh in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, +10.66€/MWh day-on-day. The EUAs rebounded from Wednesday’s retracement in a bullish move mostly fueled by the market’s…
This was to be expected. Some European countries are too dependent on oil from Russia to declare an embargo overnight. This is particularly true of Austria and several Eastern European countries, but also of Germany, which gets 1/3 of its oil from Russia. On this point, Joe Biden’s visit will not have moved the lines, even if…
European gas prices eased slightly yesterday as the bullish momentum fueled by President Putin’s announcement that Russia will seek payment in rubles for gas sold to “unfriendly” countries faded a little. The general sentiment was that, under contractual arrangements, the supplier cannot unilaterally change the payment currency. The increase in pipeline flows also exerted downward…
March PMIs generally came out better than expected, particularly in the US where they were up sharply in both manufacturing and services. This probably helped (in addition to a specific rebound in technology stocks) to support a further rise in US equity markets as well as the decline in weekly jobless claims to their lowest level…
