Inflation continues to worry markets but travel back to normal

EU stocks on decline amid inflation fears and wide sell off on Wall Street

European markets opened lower on Thursday morning following concerns of growing inflation and a wide sell-off on Wall Street Wednesday evening which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) lose 3.57% of its value, the lowest since June 2020.

London’s FTSE 100 futures fell by 0.88% Thursday morning, unable to recover yesterday’s losses when the UK announce a 40-year high inflation. Germany’s DAX futures were down by 1.53% and France’s CAC 40 futures declined by 1.48% in the early hours of the morning.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell by 0.92%.

Meanwhile NASDAQ 100 was down by over 5% during Wednesday’s market close and the S&P 500 lost over 4%.

Gold futures continue decline

Gold futures were down Thursday morning too falling by 0.25% to $1,811.44 per ounce.

Silver futures followed gold in a bearish trend falling by 0.75%, palladium futures lost 0.30% of their value meanwhile palladium futures were down 1.02%.

Oil prices on positive surge recovering losses

Oil prices were surging Thursday morning recovering Wednesday’s losses which amounted to Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark prices falling by around 2.5%.

Shanghai’s promises at the start of the week that the city would reopen on 1 June continue to fuel positive sentiment around the improvement of fuel demand amid past fears over tight global supply.

Brent Crude futures surged by 1.45% Thursday morning valued at $110.69 a barrel, meanwhile WTI futures were up by 0.57% costing $109.81 a barrel.

EU Commission announced $220 billion plan to end dependency on Russian oil

The European Commission announced on Wednesday a €210 billion (around $220 billion) plan that would end its dependency on Russian fossil fuels and lead to a smoother transition into renewable energy in the following years.

The package, which is also known as REPowerEU, was created in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

“The more interdependent we become in Europe, the more independent we become from Russia. The ultimate aim is: an interconnected European market for clean energy. That is the foundation of a true Union of Clean Energy. And this is how we #REPower the EU,” the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen tweeted on Thursday.

EasyJet stocks up as bookings surge

The British multinational low-cost airline carrier released on Thursday its half-year report that highlighted an increase in booking in the last 10 weeks that could be compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Despite that, the company also announced that it suffered a strong headline loss before tax amounting to £545 million (around $674 million).

The airline is ready to fly 90% of its 2019 capacity in the third quarter of 2022 and has a capacity on sale amounting to around 97% flying in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“And so, as we return to a more normal summer season, we are ready to capture the increased levels of demand right across our network. We are confident in our plans for summer which will see us reaching near 2019 flying levels and look forward to competing with our renewed strengths as a winner in the post pandemic recovery of European aviation,” the company’s CEO Johan Lundgren said.

Following the positive news easyJet’s (EZJ) stock was up over 2% Thursday morning.

Woodside Petroleum shareholders approve merger with BHP Group

The Australian petroleum exploration firm Woodside Petroleum’s shareholders approved on Thursday the company’s merge with BHP Group’s oil and gas business.

Over 97% of votes received were in favour of the deal which was approved last August.

“The merger is an opportunity for Woodside to increase its contribution to the world’s growing energy needs and build the scale, resilience and diversity to thrive through the energy transition,” the company’s CEO Meg O’Neill said on Thursday.

BHP will be paid in Woodside Petroleum (WPL) shares which will give its investors a 48% stake in the merged group.

Despite the positive news, WPL shares were down 2.83% as the company is unclear on its climate plan, disappointing several shareholders.

Crypto sell-off continues

The crypto sell-off continues deep into this week. Bitcoin (BTC), the top cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down 1.83% in the last 24 hours unable to reach $30,000 values. Ethereum (ETH) lost 3.41% in the last 24 hours, Solana (SOL) fell by 5.96% and the popular Elon Musk-endorsed memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE) was down 3.79%.

Note, cryptocurrency CFD trading is restricted in the UK for all retail clients.

Coinbase creates a crypto native think tank

The popular crypto exchange platform Coinbase launched the Coinbase Institute on Wednesday, a “crypto native think tank” which will aim to aid the global conversation around policies for cryptocurrencies.

“Our mission is to accelerate rigorous, novel research, and to bring together the best minds across disciplines to fuel progress on decentralization, web3, and the future of finance. Our work will cut across many disciplines and provide expert analysis and insights about what’s happening in the global cryptoeconomy,” the company said in a statement published on their website.