Xinhua News Agency, London, February 25th, Financial and Economic Observations: Financial markets may continue to fluctuate, and outbreak response measures attract attention
Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Huihui
The three major European stock indexes continued to fall on the 25th, but the decline was smaller than the previous day. Analysts believe that international financial markets will continue to fluctuate in the future.
Some people in the industry believe that when the new crown pneumonia epidemic reaches its peak, it will be one of the key factors affecting financial market sentiment. If the spread of the epidemic reaches its peak in the first quarter of this year and economic activity is expected to rebound in the second quarter, the market should pay attention to the policies and measures of various countries to deal with the impact of the epidemic.
On the same day, the average price index of 100 stocks in the London Financial Times, the CAC40 index in Paris, France, and the DAX index in Frankfurt, Germany all fell by nearly 2%. The cruise company Carnival, TUI Travel, EasyJet and other companies led the decline.
Previously, as the number of newly diagnosed pneumonia patients in South Korea, Italy and other countries rose, market worries increased. The three major stock indexes in the New York stock market and the three major European stock indexes plunged more than 3% on the 24th. International crude oil futures prices also fell sharply. The gold price of insurance instruments surged to a new high in seven years.
In an interview with the BBC, Sveta Ramachandran, European equity investment manager at GAM Investment, said that outbreak prevention and control measures in mainland China are working. Recent new cases of infection in South Korea, Italy and Iran will definitely affect market sentiment. "Unless we see a peak in new infections outside of China, our path to recovery will be quite bumpy."
The Director-General of the World Health Organization Tan Desai emphasized that although the sharp increase in the number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in Italy, Iran and South Korea is very worrying, the epidemic has not yet constituted a "pandemic". WHO will continue to conduct risk assessments to monitor the development of the epidemic.
In Yang Yan, an analyst at CMC Markets, investors may worry that the epidemic will change consumer behavior and investment sentiment in Asia and Europe. "As countries step up measures to prevent the spread of the virus, the retail, tourism, hotel, transportation and other industries may face more headwinds in the coming months, but the impact of the epidemic will be temporary. Central banks are ready to inject liquidity and reduce Interest rates to ease the pressure on the economy. "Yang Yan said.
The International Monetary Fund President Georgiyeva said during the just-concluded meeting of the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors that the Chinese government is working to reduce the epidemic through crisis response measures, liquidity supply, fiscal policy and financial support. Negative impact on the economy, the IMF supports China's policy measures.
She believes that although the impact of the epidemic continues to manifest, the World Health Organization's assessment is that through strong coordinated measures, the spread of the virus in China and globally can still be curbed. She emphasized that global cooperation is essential to curb the new crown pneumonia epidemic and its economic impact. Most of the officials participating in the meeting believed that a moderately loose monetary policy and a proactive fiscal policy should be implemented to prevent downside risks and support growth.
Oxford Economics Eurozone economist Daniela Ordonez expressed cautious optimism about the prospects for epidemic prevention and control. She believes that given the current situation, the epidemic is expected to be brought under control in the first half of this year, and industrial recovery in Germany and the euro area can still be achieved, but it will be postponed to the second half.