LONDON • World markets were hit on Wednesday by a meltdown in Chinese markets, a slump in commodities and questions over whether Europe could save Greece. “We identify OZ Minerals (OZL) as the most likely player in the ongoing round of M&A”. Greece’s foray into the unknown with its rejection of terms set by its worldwide creditors is jolting markets as investors react to looming uncertainties.
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If an agreement on Greece can not be reached in time, European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Sunday to discuss how to contain the fallout from a Greek exit from the euro zone. The currency market, however, showed little reaction to the minutes.
At 9 a.m., the dollar traded at 121.70-71 yen compared with 121. The bank does “not expect a rate hike until December 2015”. “Mid-2016 is where I envision the first liftoff”, Evans told reporters.
Nickel posted the biggest two-day rally since 2012, leading industrial metals higher.
Chinese stocks swung wildly on Thursday as Beijing took new measures to avert a crash after mainland markets plunged more than 30 percent over the past month, wiping trillions of dollars off values.
The onshore yuan also gained against the U.S. dollar, rising 0.01 per cent to 6.2082 per greenback.
Markets wobbled this week as the Greek drama neared its final act and China’s stockmarket kept falling.
The NYSE, which accounted for about 13 per cent of the volume of USA stocks traded last month, said Wednesday’s halt was due to a technical problem that stemmed from new software rolled out the previous evening.
“Greece should be priced in by now”, said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, a strategist at Deutsche Postbank, in Bonn, Germany.
“Many participants emphasized that, in order to determine that the criteria for beginning policy normalization had been met, they would need additional information indicating that economic growth was strengthening, that labor market conditions were continuing to improve, and that inflation was moving back toward the Committee’s objective”, the minutes said.
A measure of auto-related companies in Europe rebounded to post the biggest gain of the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx 600, led by Daimler AG and BMW AG.
Banking shares were weak, including Dow member JPMorgan Chase (-0.8 per cent), Citigroup (-1.1 per cent) and Bank of America (-1.5 per cent).
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Government agencies also announced that insurers would be allowed to by more blue chips and urged major shareholders and top executives to buy their own shares.
