While there were no transactions in the US markets yesterday due to the Martin Luther King Day holiday, the growth data announced in China and the Central Bank of China's (PBoC) reduction in medium-term borrowing rates for the first time since April 2020 were the main developments that shaped investor risk perception.
In the new type of coronavirus (Kovid-19) epidemic, the news flow regarding the Omicron variant also remains at the focus of the agenda. Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will start next month in China, a "zero tolerance" policy against Kovid-19 is implemented in the country, but city closures and travel restrictions continue as a result of mass tests. On the European side, at the cabinet meeting to be held in the UK today, it is expected that some measures will be lifted due to the decrease in the number of cases. On the other hand, the ongoing concerns about inflation in the bond market and uncertainties regarding economic activity support the upward movement of interest rates. While the 10-year bond interest rate of the USA was stabilized at 1.84 percent after seeing the highest level of the last 2 years with 1.8570 percent, it is noteworthy that the long-term bond rates in England, Italy and Spain increased. The dollar index, on the other hand, is at 95.4 levels with an increase of 0.1 percent today, after moving in the narrow band of 95.0-95.4 yesterday.
On the European side, the finance ministers of the European Union (EU) member countries that use the euro currency met yesterday to discuss the rise in inflation. Making statements after the meeting, Eurogroup Chairman and Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe stated that they believe that the current inflationary pressures will begin to decrease this year, and that they expect high inflation levels to continue for a longer period of time than their previous forecasts. While problems related to energy supply continue to be on the agenda, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said yesterday that they will take the necessary measures regarding the Nord Stream 2 project if Russia increases the tension. Despite this development, it was noteworthy that natural gas futures contracts continued to decline to the level of 67 dollars. 82 and Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index gained 0.52 percent. After falling below 1.14 yesterday, Euro/dollar parity is watching sideways today.
On the Asian side, while the Bank of Japan (BoJ) did not make any changes in interest rates and monetary policy, it revised its projections for the economy. Within the scope of the fundraising measure to encourage bank loans, the deadline for loan disbursement, which was 30 June 2022, was extended by one year. The bank also kept its inflation midpoint forecast for the 2021 fiscal year, which will end in March 2022, at 0 percent. It also reduced its real Gross Domestic Product (GNI) expectation for the same period from 3.4 percent to 2.8 percent. The bank, which increased its inflation expectation for the 2022 fiscal year, which will end in March 2023, from 0.9 percent to 1.1 percent, revised its growth forecast from 2.9 percent to 3.8 percent. Shanghai composite index increased by 0.5 percent, Nikkei 225 index in Japan decreased by 0.2 percent, Kospi index in South Korea was 0.9 percent and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased by 0.5 percent.
Domestically, the BIST 100 index on Borsa Istanbul gained 0.62 percent yesterday, carrying its upward trend for the 11th consecutive trading day and closed the day at 2,085.76 points. Dollar/TL, on the other hand, is trading at 13.45 levels at the opening of the interbank market today, after falling 0.5 percent to 13.4406 yesterday. He said that the volatility in the stock markets was low due to the holiday in the markets. The data to be followed in the markets today are as follows: 10.00 Turkey, November international investment position10.00 England, November unemployment rate13.00 Germany, January ZEW Expectation Index14.30 Turkey, November house price index16.30 US, January New York Fed Industrial Index
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