Hong Kong’s stock market slumps by almost 4% after the Lunar New Year, and European markets are in retreat again. * FTSE 100 has hit a new 3.5 year low * UK borrowing costs slide * European markets falling again * Gold is surging, oil is down * Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sheds 4% * “Very little good news” to report 10.35am GMT The Greek stock market is suffering another rout, led by its banks: #Greece Athens stock exchange -5.23%, banks -18.31%. Banks -69% year to date #Greece Banks, year to date: Alpha Bank -53.4%, NBG -62.97%, Piraeus -67.63%, Eurobank -67.79% 10.16am GMT OIL IS BEING THUMPED BY PREDICTIONS OF A GROWING CRUDE GLUT, AS THE WORLD ECONOMY SLOWS. The price of US crude has fallen by almost 3% today, to $26.74 per barrel. The threat of further rate hikes from the Fed coupled with diminished prospects for a joint production cut between OPEC and non-OPEC producers have sent US oil prices back down to 12-year lows. The renewed slump in the price of oil has been unfortunate timing for French oil giant Total to report a 20% rise in annual net profits which CEO Patrick Pouyanne proclaimed as the “best performance” amongst the oil majors. Continue reading...
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