Investors fear a new economic crisis in the United States

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was re-elected for a second term yesterday. Powell made an interesting point yesterday: “I have said, and I will say again, that, you know, if you had perfect hindsight, you’d go back, and it probably would have been better for us to have raised rates a little sooner,” Powell said, in an interview with Marketplace that will air this evening.

According to analysts, the UK is already showing signs of stagflation (slowing economic growth while consumer prices are rising). It is likely that the Bank of England will have to raise interest rates even more to curb inflation, warns Bloomberg manager Dave Ramsden.

Sanctions imposed on “EuRoPol” GAZ by Moscow prohibit gas deliveries through the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday that it does not expect acute shortages amid the worsening disruption of oil supplies from Russia. According to the IEA, a new embargo against Russia may accelerate the reorientation of trade flows of Russian oil toward Asia. This is the reason why oil continues to rise despite lower demand. On the other hand, more and more European countries want to eliminate oil and gas dependence on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Sooner or later, this will cause serious economic damage to Russia as most of Russia’s profits come from the sale of oil and gas.

Asian markets closed yesterday with a decline. Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) fell by 1.77%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) lost 2.24%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (AU200) was down by 1.75%. On Thursday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi agreed with his counterparts in Britain, Canada, and France on the importance of G7 unity in countering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Chinese developer Zhongliang Holdings struggles to extend a $729 million bond maturity before next week’s deadline to avoid defaulting on offshore debt. Zhongliang’s bond default could heighten investor fears about China’s real estate sector.