Category Archives: Market Insights

Joining the list of countries – like Poland and Bulgaria – affected by retaliatory sanctions from Russia is Finland. The country’s supply of Russian natural gas has been cut off after Helsinki officially applied to join NATO. Gasum, Finland’s state-owned gas distributor, announced that while imports had halted, they were “prepared for it”. The disruptionContinue Reading

On Wednesday morning (GMT+3), Germany released its quarter-on-quarter GDP figures. The 0.2% increase was exactly in line with forecasts, while an increase from the previous quarters -0.3%. Year-on-year growth for Q1 stands at 3.8%, up from the forecasted 3.7%. Earlier in the week on Tuesday, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde gave the indicationContinue Reading

US shares saw their largest rout in almost two years as investors exited equities on the back of poor retailer earnings results and inflation fears. Trading hours on Wednesday saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average lose 3.57% to close at 31490.07, the S&P 500 drop 4.04% to close at 3923.68, and the Nasdaq Composite plummetContinue Reading

The EU has announced a new series of sanctions in their latest proposal. Included is a plan to phase out Russian crude imports in a span of six months. This means a ban on all Russian oil, crude and refined. Enacting the sanction will be a major challenge given that Russian oil accounted for 25%Continue Reading

On Wednesday afternoon (GMT+3), the US ADP Nonfarm Employment Change figures were announced, revealing that employment in the US rose by 247,000, lower than the forecasted increase of 395,000 and the previous month’s increase of 479,000. Markets were largely unmoved by the ADP Employment figures as participants awaited the Fed’s interest rate decision. For theContinue Reading

Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled energy giant, has announced that it has cut off supplies of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria. The move is the first of its kind to result from the Kremlin’s insistence that “unfriendly countries” pay for Russian energy in rubles. Russia’s currency plunged into freefall at the onset of the Russia-UkraineContinue Reading

US shares plunged on Tuesday night (GMT+3) as investor fears about spiking interest rates, slowing economic growth, and rampaging inflation culminated in a rout. The S&P 500 closed the day by 2.8% lower to 4,175.20, Dow Jones slid around 800 points to 33,240.18, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged nearly 4% to 12,490.74, hitting itsContinue Reading

Russia’s war in Ukraine has had a profound effect on global food distribution, and world leaders are anxious to address any coming issues. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be meeting ministers from industrial nations – including IMF leaders and G7 members – around the world to address the growing food supply crisis caused byContinue Reading

On Wednesday (GMT+3), the US Energy Information Administration reported a large decrease of 8.02 million barrels in its crude oil inventories, bringing its current inventory to 413.7 million barrels. The numbers are far from the forecasted increase of 2.471 million barrels, and last week’s increase of 9.382 million. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories see a decrease ofContinue Reading

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has warned that it would not be possible to replace the 7 million barrels of Russian oil and other liquid exports that will potentially be lost each day due to current and future sanctions. While the EU has not yet banned imports of Russian energy, the option hasContinue Reading