(ANSA) – MILAN, AUGUST 16 – Positive session in Asia and the Pacific, Europe leaps forward, with Piazza Affari on the top step of the podium. The stock market will be able to say it has concluded its best week of 2024. While traders are evaluating the latest economic data in search of clues on the prospects of the Federal Reserve’s policy awaiting Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole next Friday. The common thread today for all the stock markets was the thought that the Fed will not need an aggressive easing of its policy, given that the American economy is not falling off a cliff, fears of a recession are receding. Meanwhile, gold, the ultimate safe haven, hit a record high, breaking the $2,500 an ounce mark for the first time, up 1.8% to beat the previous record set last month, after disappointing US housing market data boosted expectations of faster and deeper cuts by the Fed. Lower rates are generally good for gold, which doesn’t pay interest, analysts said. It’s a trend that has continued since the start of the year (+20%) thanks to growing optimism about monetary easing and large-scale purchases by central banks. Demand for gold as a safe haven has also increased due to rising geopolitical risks, including tensions in the Middle East and Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. European stocks posted their biggest weekly gain since May, thanks to broadly positive global economic data that eased concerns about the health of the economy. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.3%: the queen – also due to the need to recover a day of closure – was Milan, which closed up 2.2%. But Frankfurt (+0.77%) and Paris (+0.35%) also gained. Only London closed the week down (-0.43%). In Milan, banking stocks dominated, with Mediobanca gaining 4.3%, Unicredit 3.6% and Intesa Sanpaolo 3.10%. In general, however, it was the auto and retail stocks that gained the most in Europe, while energy and real estate lagged behind. (ANSA).
2024-08-17 12:28:22