Europe Faces ‘Perfect Storm’ in Energy Market, Says JPMorgan EMEA CEO

04 Oct 2021, 08:14 PM IST

(Bloomberg) --

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s top executive in Europe says the energy market is facing a “perfect storm,” and there’s no “certainty on when oil and gas prices will recover.”

Vis Raghavan, chief executive officer of Europe, Middle East and Africa for the Wall Street firm, said in an interview in London that he expects “a volatile period of rallies and corrections for a while.” But with plenty of investors on the sidelines looking for opportunities to deploy unprecedented levels of cash, “we are not at the brink of a market crash.”

He also said capital markets activity remains high, especially in equities. “Equity volumes in both cash and derivatives are still high and that momentum looks set to continue,” he said “M&A activity has been at a record and that shows no sign of abating.” Credit and rates trades are “normalizing to pre-covid levels.”

While markets have been spooked by China Evergrande Group’s financial woes, Raghavan doesn’t expect too much disruption as a result.

“I don’t see any wave of withdrawals amid concerns around the latest news,” he said, noting JPMorgan remains “committed to China for the long term.”