Stock markets across the world are shaking due to the slump in oil prices and fears that Greece will be driven out of the Eurozone. The euro is at 1.19609 against the dollar, while oil prices have reached a low for at least 6 years, selling at 49 dollars a barrel. “If Alexis Tsipras, leader of SYRIZA, wins the elections, it will result in flight of funds from global markets in search of safer investment options. This would result in a further sell-off of global equities,” said an Economic Times article. U.S. markets have shown drops, closing on Monday with Dow Jones down 1.9%, Nasdaq down 1.6%, S&P 500 down 1.8%. Nikkei (Tuesday close) was down 3% while Nymex crude was up 15 cents at 50.18 a barrel. Gold went up 1.80 dollars at 1205.70 dollars. EUR/USD 1.1958 dollars, USD/JPY 119.04 yen. Also, 10 year Treasury yield 2.02%, Bund 0.52%, Gilt 1.67%., according to The Wall Street Journal. In Europe, the London Stock Exchange closed at -2%, Frankfurt at -2.99% and Paris at -3.31%. In its worst ever crash in over six years, benchmark Sensex on Tuesday tanked 855 points. The NSE’s Nifty also tanked 251 points, or 3%, on massive selling across sectors. The Topix index closed with a 2.85% fall and lost 39.95 points, to 1361.14 points. According to a Moody’s report, the global oil industry is entering a “difficult” period in 2015 because of crude oil’s price collapse. The report warns that if prices remain around the current 55 dollars a barrel, energy groups will be hit, affecting investments. It attributes the fall in prices to rising supplies from non-OPEC producers and slowing demand. Meanwhile, gold went up to 1,205.40 dollars an ounce. The uptick was caused by “a bit of talk about safe-haven buying, given the spike in uncertainty regarding the Eurozone‘s future,” an MKS trader told Reuters.
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