At the microphone of Europe 1, Marc Fiorentino, specialist in financial markets, talks about the collapse of oil prices, caused by the drop in demand in Asia. A consequence of the coronavirus which will have a heavy impact on the stock markets, according to the economist. "Particularly on oil stocks like Total, or even equipment manufacturers," he says.

INTERVIEW

The spread of the coronavirus, which is now present in more than 90 countries and which has contaminated nearly 110,000 people worldwide, including 1,126 in France, is putting severe strain on the financial markets. At the end of February, the financial markets experienced their worst episode since the financial crisis of 2008. At the microphone of Europe 1, Marc Fiorentino, specialist in these markets, nevertheless claims that this crisis, linked to the coronavirus, is very different from that of the subprimes .

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"The world is going to go into recession"

"Today, we are in a one-off crisis linked to an event that will cause us to have almost a white year in terms of growth," says Marc Fiorentino. "The world is going to enter into recession: France, Italy, Germany, Japan, well a lot of countries," he warns. "The markets are down 7% this morning! We wiped out all of the increase in 2019 and 2020. That is to say we wiped out the increase of a year and a half in about 18 days ".

Asked about the 30% collapse in oil prices in Asia, recording the most severe drop since the 1991 Gulf War, after Saudi Arabia launched a crude price war, Marc Fiorentino warns: "He is going to have a devastating impact on the stock market. " "Particularly on oil stocks like Total or even equipment manufacturers," explains the specialist in the financial markets. "But it is certain that in the long term, it will be a huge booster," counterbalances Marc Fiorentino.

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"For the moment, we are rather in a panic"

As a result of the collapse, caused by a drop in demand in Asia, prices will indeed fall significantly. "It is a kind of consumer bonus, but for now, we are rather in a panic. We do not really see the positive effects" comments Marc Fiorentino. Words which correspond to the words of Thierry Breton. This morning on our antenna, the European Commissioner for the internal market affirmed that "the price at the pump will drop significantly".