Back to normal? European Central Bank Reduces "Quantitative Expansion" | Israel today

Life in the shadow of the corona: The European Central Bank decided over the weekend to reduce the "quantitative easing" (reduce the volume of bond purchases and reduce the volume of money printing).

This move indicates the decision of the central bank to abandon the emergency strategy it began with the outbreak of the corona, and to try to return to the outline of a routine.

European stock markets reacted with price increases to the move.

The London Stock Exchange also reacted with gains to the move - despite the publication of growth data there, which indicated minimal growth in July (0.1).

Britain, which has decided to lift all corona restrictions, is recording an increase in the rate of infection due to the Delta virus, although there is currently no increase in the number of serious patients, nor in the number of coronary deaths.

In the United States, President Biden has signed decrees requiring all federal workers to be vaccinated. At the same time, there has been a decline in unemployment claims, which have fallen to the lowest level since the outbreak of the plague. , At the same time as the dollar weakened against the euro and the pound sterling.

In Asia, on the other hand, the stock markets recorded increases of one percent or more: 0.9% in Singapore and 1.3% in Tokyo.

Shanghai, on the other hand, recorded a minor increase of 0.3%.

The Central Bank of the European Union, Reuters

China has decided to open its oil reserves, contributing to a slight drop in world oil prices.

There has also been a slight drop in the price of a barrel of oil in the US, after it became clear that the US oil inventory remained higher than expected.

Decline in oil prices

Oil futures continued to point to a rise in prices, with contracts priced at $ 68.1 in October and $ 71.4 in November.

The price of gold continued to maintain stability, and its moderate rise reflected the decline in the dollar exchange rate.

Bitcoin weakened, trading at around $ 46.3 thousand per unit over the weekend, after last week firing $ 50,000 per unit.

The gold and bitcoin exchange rates indicate optimism in the market, in that despite the fourth wave of morbidity, it seems that governments have made a decision to moderate the emergency measures and return to routine with determination.