Yesterday the Athens stock market suffered its biggest one-day fall in over 20 years; Syriza politicians apparently reckon its a conspiracy to hit their support:
#Greece - Mixed views on how market will react today following yday's massacre. Syriza MPs describe crash as 'terrorist act against Syriza'.
— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) December 10, 2014
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The Agenda: Greek politics back in focus
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the financial markets, the world economy, the eurozone and business.
This is usually a quiet time in the financial calendar, as investors look to hold onto this year’s profits (or forget about this year’s losses). But that’s all out of the window, thanks to the political instability gripping Greece.
Yesterday’s stock market wobbles shows how the City is alarmed by the prospect of the left-wing leader Alexis Tsipras slipping into the prime minister’s chair in Athens.
Global stock markets tumble as Antonis Samaras calls snap election
And with the first round of the snap presidential election due in a weeks’s time, events in Athens are being closely watched around the globe.
Overnight, Japan’s Nikkei index has fallen by 2.3% to a two-week low as the political uncertainty – and lower oil prices – hit sentiment.
Volatility is rising too:
There is nervousness out there as #volatility surges across the board. Nikkei vol up 14%, VIX at 1mth high. pic.twitter.com/hfLVRGSjg7
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) December 10, 2014
European stock markets are expected to stage a small recovery, but it could be a nervy day:
Here’s the market calls:
- FTSE100 is expected to open 33 points higher at 6,552
- DAX is expected to open 68 points higher at 9,861
- CAC40 is expected to open 27 points higher at 4,290
There’s not much in the diary....
...but we are expecting French industrial production data shortly, and UK trade data at 9.30am.
European Central Bank policymaker Benoît Cœuré is giving a speech in Brussels this lunchtime. He reportedly opposed president Mario Draghi this month over the commitment to widen the ECB’s balance sheet....
Robert Chote, the head of the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, is appearing before the Treasury committee to discuss the autumn statement.
Yesterday, those MPs heard that the fall in the oil price should soon push down petrol prices:
Petrol to fall to £1 a litre if oil prices remain low, Treasury MPs told
We’ll be tracking all the main events through the day...
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