PARIS, May 19 (Reuters) – The main European stock markets fell at the start of the session on Thursday in the wake of Wall Street, the market climate being still weighed down by concerns linked to the impact of the rise in bank interest rates power plants and inflation on the economy. In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 1.81% to 6,238.10 points around 07:50 GMT.
In London, the FTSE 100 lost 1.36% and in Frankfurt, the Dax fell 1.94%. The EuroStoxx 50 index is down 2.05%, the FTSEurofirst 300 1.65% and the Stoxx 600 1.68%. European markets lost more than 1% on Wednesday, but the decline was much larger on Wall Street, where the major indices fell between 3.6% and 4.7%, due to fears of a significant economic slowdown with the Federal Reserve’s ongoing monetary tightening in the face of inflation. Soaring costs are not without consequences for companies: the American distribution group Target fell by 25% following its poor results, citing supply problems and rising prices, concerns which make echo those expressed by its competitor Walmart the day before.
Futures give Wall Street a pullback of at least 1% at the open. Risk aversion is causing investors to retreat to safe havens, sovereign bonds in the lead. The yield of ten-year Treasuries lost almost three basis points to 2.8533% and its German equivalent lost six to 0.951%. On the stock market, all sectors are falling, starting with the distribution sector. Its Stoxx index lost 2.53%. At individual values, EDF lost 1.84% after lowering its nuclear production estimate for 2022, which will have a greater impact than expected on its gross operating surplus. Vallourec drops 5.53% after announcing the elimination of 2,950 jobs worldwide due to a reorganization which will result in the closure of certain sites. Orpea fell 5% following new press information concerning the commercial practices and remuneration of the group’s Swiss purchasing centre.
Elior, up sharply at the opening, now yields 1.39% after Derichebourg (-8.3%) announced that it was going to increase its stake in the capital of the collective catering group, an operation deemed “surprising” by Portzamparc BNP Paribas analysts. On the rise, the Valneva laboratory gained 8.98% after the European Medicines Agency accepted the submission of the marketing authorization file for its inactivated vaccine candidate against COVID-19. (Written by Laetitia Volga, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)