It was the decline that this time won the Paris Stock Exchange, and the Cac 40 lost all the increase it had garnered the day before on Wednesday. If the flagship index opened on a stable note, it quickly sank into the red, under pressure, moreover, from Wall Street. While the war in Ukraine began almost a month ago and the conflict is bogged down, operators are worried about the new surge in oil, which has risen above the 120 dollar threshold for the Brent benchmark of the North Sea. At 120.97 dollars at the time of the European close, it has climbed 26% since the start of the military offensive and now stands at more than 55% compared to its levels at the start of the year.
Among the explanations of the day, Russia has reduced its oil supplies via the Caspian consortium pipeline (Caspian consortium pipeline) which connects Central Asia to the Black Sea due to damage caused by a storm, according to a press release from the vice -Russian Minister of Energy relayed by the Tass agency. Up to 1 million barrels per day could be impacted for about two months, the statement said.
“Whatever it takes”
This is enough to fuel fears about an already galloping inflation that is of great concern to central banks, starting with the Fed, while consumer prices have already soared by nearly 8% in February in the country. In New York, the Dow Jones loses 0.83%, the Nasdaq Composite managing, for its part, to stay almost on its mark. In Paris, the Bedroom 40 ended down 1.17%, falling below the 6,600 point mark, to 6,581.43 points, in a volume of 3.67 billion euros.
” Markets are still trying to find directionestimated Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Cresset Capital, quoted by CNBC. It is very difficult to assess the impact of rising interest rates on inflation, the economy and earnings growth. If you add to all this a war that brings its share of other worries… “.
For Mary Daly, the war in Ukraine constitutes a limited risk for growth and should not lead to stagflation. It’s far too early to know if we’re going into a recession, the San Francisco Fed President said. As for rate hikes in the United States, it is the statistics that will say whether or not to increase the Fed funds by 50 basis points at the next meetings of the monetary policy committee; ” We are ready to do what it takes to ensure price stability “, she said.
Zelensky calls on French firms to leave Russia
In the Ukrainian file, investors are on the reserve, while Joe Biden begins a trip to Europe on Wednesday to try to convince his partners to adopt new sanctions against Moscow. In particular, it will be necessary to convince German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who remains opposed to an embargo on Russian gas and oil, according to Die Zeit. Germany is already affected by the conflict. The Ifo institute today lowered its growth forecast for the country’s economy to a range of 2.2% to 3.1% this year, against 3.7% previously, due to the war in Ukraine. Joe Biden will participate in an extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, but also at the G7 summit and the European Council before traveling to Poland on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke this afternoon by videoconference to French deputies and senators. He called on Parliament to observe a minute’s silence in tribute to the victims of the war in Ukraine and then said he was grateful for President Macron’s efforts to put an end to hostilities. He called on French companies to leave Russia and asked for more aid in military equipment. On the ground, Kremlin forces are still trying to approach kyiv and conquer the port city of Mariupol, which has been besieged for several weeks.
TotalEnergies will no longer buy Russian oil
Nothing transcendent to report on the business side. TotalEnergies rose 0.8%. The group says it has decided unilaterally “to no longer conclude or renew contracts for the purchase of Russian petroleum and petroleum products, in order to stop these purchases” as soon as possible and at the latest by the end of 2022 “. The partial withdrawal from Russia will reduce media pressure on the group which remains involved in Yamal LNG, estimates the firm Oddo BHF.
With the rise in Brent, the manufacturer of seamless tubes Vallourec took another 3.5%. To other values related to raw materials, Eramet gained 4.4% on the back of a rebound in nickel prices in London.
Liquid air rose 2.3%. Goldman Sachs added the industrial gases stock to its list of preferred stocks.