#Rollercoaster #markets #shares #depreciate #metals #soar #cryptocurrencies #sink #gold #shines
The month of April brought two important changes to the markets. After gains recorded in three consecutive months, the global stock market crashed. The MSCI world stock market index lost 3.4%, highlighted by drops of 4.2% in New York, 4% in Latin America as a whole and 3.9% in the stock markets of developed economies in the euro zone.
The second change, with an impact on the evolution of inflation, was the spike in metal prices in April, with double-digit increases in zinc, nickel, copper and aluminum. Gold, seen as a safe haven asset, saw its price reach a maximum of almost 2450 dollars per ounce. In the natural gas market, another component with an impact on inflation, the price of the European reference (TTF, traded in the Netherlands) rose 6% and the North American price increased 10.8%. TTF natural gas futures point to an increase from the current 29.12 euros per megawatt/hour to 35.59 euros in December.
The specific spike in tension between Israel and Iran, the potential threats in the Strait of Hormuz from Tehran, the expansion of sanctions imposed by the London Market Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in relation to Russian metals, and the uncertainty about the descent strategy of interest rates until the end of the year by the North American Federal Reserve shook the markets in April.
