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by Chiara Rancati

31 August 2021The European lists open slightly higher, in line with yesterday's closing.

Milan at + 0.09%, in line with London and Paris while the best is Frankfurt at + 0.33%.



While it is a two-sided day for the Asian markets.

Tokyo closed with a sharp rise, at + 1.08%, driven by data on Japanese industrial production which in July fell but much less than expected (-1.5% compared to June, against a forecast of -2 by analysts, 5%).



On the other hand, the Chinese stock exchanges - Shanghai up slightly, Shenzhen down sharply - due to the effect of data on SME indices in China, which in August are all down but above all, for the services sector and the composite, they pass below the threshold of 50 points that marks the boundary between growth and contraction.



The strong post-Covid rebound of the Chinese economy therefore seems to be over, although it remains to be seen whether it is a momentary stumble or a real slowdown.



On the commodities market, the swing in the price of oil continues: Brent oil falls to 72.09 dollars a barrel, on fears of a slowdown in refining activities in the United States due to the damage caused to some plants by Hurricane Ida .