The European stock markets have started the week with strong falls, dragged down by the crisis of the Chinese company Evergrande, which remains at the center of investors' concerns. The most important appointment of the week is the Fed meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, where the foundations are expected to be laid for a gradual reduction in monetary stimulus, although the consensus points to the actual announcement being postponed until November or December. Eyes are also on other central bank meetings in Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey and Hungary.
Evergrande shares have plunged more than 15% after previously losing as much as 19% to lows of more than 11 years. At the end of August, the company recognized the risk of default due to difficulties in obtaining the necessary liquidity due to the suspension of work on several of the projects developed by the company. Investors fear that a possible bankruptcy of the Chinese giant could harm the whole of China, since the company's debts represent around 2% of the Asian country's GDP. The "Great White Rhino" problems added to growing concerns about the health of China's economy following Beijing's recent crackdown on tech companies. For all these reasons, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has registered a fall of 3.2%. Holidays in Japan,China and South Korea kept trade thin, and the politics added additional uncertainty with elections in Canada and Germany closing the week.
The European stock markets have been infected with this pessimism and have opened this Monday with declines that exceed 1%.
In the case of the Ibex, after closing last week with an advance of 0.75%, the drop is 1.2%, which leads the index to trade below 8,700 points.
Within the Spanish index, the worst drops are taken by ArcelorMittal, whose stocks cut 5%;
Sabadell, which lost 3% and Acerinox, which fell 2.5%.
Behind are Indra (-2.31%), Bankinter (-1.97%), Mapfre (-1.97%), BBVA (-1.83%) and Solaria (-1.88%).
In contrast, IAG and Pharmamar escape the burn with gains of 1.8% and 1%.
Together with Grifols, which has advanced slightly, they are the only Ibex securities that do not suffer losses.
The other European parks have also premiered the session in red. The DAX is left 1.6%; the FTSE 100 drops 0.8%; the CAC lost 1.5%, and the FTSE MIB 1.4%. According to CMC Markets UK's chief market analyst, a growing sense of unease prevails over the economic outlook. “A growing number of companies are looking ahead to the prospect of rising costs and the possible effects on their profit margins, at a time when central banks are under pressure to withdraw the largesse of their current stimulus measures. "Said the expert in statements collected by Reuters.
Dow Jones futures fell 1% and S&P 500 futures 0.8%, after all three Wall Street indices posted weekly losses on Friday after days of turmoil. The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Janet Yellen, warned that the Government is in danger of running out of cash in October unless Congress increases the debt ceiling that the Executive can issue annually. "A delay that calls into question the ability of the federal government to meet all its obligations would likely cause irreparable damage to the US economy and global financial markets," said the secretary.
In the commodities market, crude prices were also affected by the resumption of production by energy companies in the US Gulf of Mexico, after several consecutive hurricanes in the region shut down production. Brent fell 48 cents to $ 74.86 a barrel, while US crude lost 55 cents to $ 71.42.