An expert in financial and commodity market analyzes revealed that increased precautionary measures and protective instructions that governments and countries are working on may constitute a pressure factor on financial markets and contribute to panic among traders, despite the importance of health education to hedge against the spread of the Corona virus in all countries.
Youssef Kassantini, Senior Director of Private Portfolios at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Khair Capital, told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the markets were affected, not only by the Gulf, but by all the global markets, by the repercussions of the Corona Virus and the associated outbreaks and increasing number of reported cases. Traders ».
He said: “The biggest influencer in my opinion is the Corona virus, although there is media inflation, which contributed to the panic of the markets, as the deaths so far do not exceed 3 thousand of the total population of the world, which is a negligible percentage,” stressing that the nature of financial markets is disturbed for fear of the unknown. .
Constantine added that the rapid spread of the virus and media circulation constituted a negative impact on the hearts of traders, at a time when it was clearly reflected on major economic sectors and activities such as aviation as well as transportation in addition to tourism, in which the indicators of decline reached more than 50 percent.
He stressed that oil prices, with the disappearance of the agreement to increase production cuts within OPEC +, reinforced the tension of markets in the region, to add to the reality of the market, which is weak demand, a new crisis at a time when many energy and petrochemical companies operating in the financial markets operate and have an impact on the weight of indicators.
He continued: «Since the Gulf markets depend mainly on energy exports (oil and petrochemicals), the situation is likely to increase the anxiety of dealers», explaining at the same time that the increase in protectionist and precautionary measures such as shifting towards working from homes and stopping schools and disrupting some activities and gatherings, may be a factor of concern The pressure dose increases on all markets, including the Gulf stock markets.