One day before the start of the conference of top central bankers in Jackson Hole, USA, investors on the foreign exchange market braced themselves for clear interest rate signals from US Federal Reserve Chairman Powell and bought dollars. After falling to a 20-year low of just under $0.99 the day before, the euro remained under pressure on Wednesday. The common currency was temporarily quoted at $ 0.9916. “Because of the looming energy crisis and the associated risk of recession, the price should remain below par for quite a while,” said Jürgen Molnar, capital market strategist at Robo-Markets. “But there is always the possibility that the euro will fall even more sharply against the dollar.” That should fuel economic concerns further. Because not only imports are likely to become more expensive, the already rising energy prices would also be increased again by a weak euro, stated Molnar.
The situation on the energy markets remained tense. Intensified concerns about Western Europe’s gas supplies as a result of Gazprom’s announced disruption to Nord Stream 1 supplies further pushed up gas prices. The European future jumped by 13 percent to 301 euros per megawatt hour. Within three months, European gas has become more expensive by more than 70 percent. According to Gazprom, pipeline operations will be suspended from August 31 to September 2 for maintenance work.
Oil prices rose somewhat. A barrel of Brent crude cost $101.50, up 1.4 percent. According to traders, speculation on further production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) supported the courses. Statements by the Saudi energy minister were interpreted in such a way that the oil cartel might want to counteract the resumption of Iranian oil production.