ECB QE Boosts Asian Equities But Sinks Euro

January 22, 2015 Share Print 0

Asian stocks extended a global rally on Friday after the European Central Bank launched a landmark bond-buying stimulus program that buoyed investors’ risk appetite, drove bonds higher and left the euro pinned near 11-year lows. Crude oil prices jumped after Saudi Arabia announced that King Abdullah had died and his successor, Salman, moved quickly to name his own heir to rule the world’s biggest oil exporter. U.S. crude rose 94 cents to $47.25 a barrel.

The Saudi king’s death added to longer-term uncertainty in energy markets already facing some of the biggest shifts in decades. “The fear of the unknown is going to be supportive to crude oil prices,” said John Kilduff, partner, Again Capital LLC in New York.

“King Abdullah was the architect of the current strategy to keep production high and force out smaller players instead of cutting (output),” he added. The ECB took the ultimate leap into quantitative easing on Thursday, launching a government bond-buying program which will pump hundreds of billions of new money into a sagging euro zone economy.Asian stocks extended a global rally on Friday after the European Central Bank launched a landmark bond-buying stimulus program that buoyed investors’ risk appetite, drove bonds higher and left the euro pinned near 11-year lows.

Reuters

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