BlackRock Investment Institute

Macro insights

Rising stress

The war in Ukraine has sparked a surge in global energy and commodity prices – the main macroeconomic impact of the tragic conflict so far. The shock is largest in Europe, where natural gas prices shot up more than they did during previous energy price shocks.

Measures of systemic stress in the financial system are now rising – potentially highlighting another channel to transmit the shock. This is most pronounced in the euro area, as the chart shows. Countries with close geographic or commercial ties to Russia, such as Finland, Austria and Netherlands, have seen moves on a par with earlier stressed episodes in 2015-17. The U.S. stress indicator has ticked up, though the overall level remains much more muted than in the euro area.

Largest shock is in Europe

Chart showing the ECB measure of financial stress

Sources: BlackRock Investment Institute, European Central Bank, March 2022. Notes: The chart shows the ECB’s composite index of systemic stress. This monitors a range of mainly market-based financial stress measures. See https://sdw.ecb.europa.eu/browseExplanation.do?node=9689686 for more details.

Further financial stress increases the risk of market dislocations in the euro area. We believe the European Central Bank’s policy normalization remains on track, yet the shock’s hit to activity could temper the pace and size of interest rate increases.

Recent macro insights

Manufacturers to slow production
Manufacturers have slowed production substantially in both the U.S. and the euro area, according to survey data.
Financial conditions tightening fast
U.S. financial conditions have tightened a lot since the start of the year – in other words, financing is becoming more costly for individuals and companies. Since then, th...
Less optimism on growth
Economic growth forecasts for this year and the next are coming down rapidly. The OECD last week followed the World Bank in downgrading growth forecasts.
Elga Bartsch
Head of Macro Research
Read bio
Nicholas Fawcett
Macro Research

Stay ahead of markets with the latest insights from the BlackRock Investment Institute

Please try again
First Name *
Please enter a valid first name
Last Name *
Please enter a valid last name
Email *
Please enter a valid email
Investor type *
This field is mandatory
Location *
This field is mandatory
Company *
This field is mandatory
Thank you
Thank you for your subscription!
We usually publish weekly insights on every Monday. Expect to receive your first newsletter from us this upcoming Monday.