(ABM FN) Investors raised the Brussels stock market spectacularly higher on Wednesday. The Bel20 index closed no less than 5.8 percent higher at 3,884.78 points. Financials such as KBC and Ageas contributed to the good weather.

There is a glimmer of hope surrounding the war in Ukraine, as President Zelensky seems willing to meet some demands from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The latter would not necessarily want a regime change in Ukraine. The important demands will be neutrality of Ukraine and recognition of Crimea and the Donbas region.

In a solution, new ones keep coming against Russia. Both work and companies hands off the land.

The US announced a ban on the import of Russian oil on Tuesday evening. President Joe Biden also indicated on Tuesday that America is working with allies in Europe on a long-term strategy to stop being dependent on Russian energy. Many allies in Europe are not yet in a position to completely ban Russian oil, Biden said.

The period of the European Union is the Wednesdays about more targeted who against 160 people, oligarchs and prominent cases.

In the first conflict, the central bank comes with an interest rate decision that the central bank comes with an interest rate decision.

“We had previously assumed two rate hikes this year. As far as we are concerned, these are not completely off the tableb, but we do think that the ECB will indicate that it is keeping an eye on macroeconomic data and that it is not in a hurry to raise interest rates. The central bank could sound a little more relaxed,” Koen De Leus, chief economist at BNP Paribas Fortis, added.

“The ECB is caught between two fires,” the economist continued. “On the one hand, there is the high minimum which is now even higher. In addition, they also have to keep expectations under control.”

“Another nature is to make sure the euro doesn’t sink too far, that gives you even more immersion. They might offer verbal support there. If that’s not enough and the euro is even lower, then the G7 level will be in-depth action must be taken,” De Leus explained.

The euro/dollar has indeed seen a strong lager in recent weeks. This has a lot to do with the interest rate differential between Europe and America and the safe-haven status that the dollar enjoys. On Wednesday, however, that safe haven was loosened somewhat by the tentative hoop that has arisen over solution for Ukraine. The euro then strengthened more than one percent against the dollar, but not always just 1.1085.

Oil was 7.2 percent cheaper after a long ride to the top in recent weeks. A VAT Brent oil still costs $119.78.

The Belgian economy in the fourth quarter of 2021 is harder than expected, according to data from the National Bank. In the fourth quarter, gross domestic rose by 0.6 percent, compared to a yield of 0.2 percent.

The number of vacancies in January light the United States is in January light the United States to 11.3 million.

Risers and Fallers

In the main index, all stocks closed in green. The largest profit was for KBC with a plus of 11.1 percent. Ageas also rose 7.4 percent.

JPMorgan Cazenove took Umicore off the sales list and raised its target price to EUR 27.50. According to the investment bank, the company is benefiting from the high metal prices, but looking ahead remains difficult, also due to the fierce competition in the battery market. The stock rose 6.5 percent.

In the BelMid, Mithra recovered 4.4 percent of Tuesday’s pando. Ontex did even better with a price gain of 8.8 percent. D’Ieteren was on the other side with a loss of 10.6 percent.

D’Ieteren’s results were not to the liking of investors. Kepler Cheuvreux cautious the outlook, the insights came in below expectations.

TINC has reported solid half-year figures according to Degroof Petercam. The stock gained 2.8 percent.

According to ING, Agfa also delivered a strong performance in 2021. The share rose 3.2 percent.

Among the smaller stocks, Celyad was up 21.7 percent. Vastned Belgium was 2.8 percent.

Wall Street

The US stock market also benefited from the glimmer of hope in Ukraine. The broad-based S&P500 index rose 2.4 percent to 4,272.38 points. The volatility index VIX stands at 32.28, where the ‘fear index’ climbed to a level of 39 earlier in the week.

Source: ABM Financial News

From Beursplein 5, the editors of Financial news from ABM keep a close eye on developments on the stock exchanges, and the Amsterdam stock exchange in particular. The information in this column is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make.