by Laetitia Volga
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to fall on Monday at the opening, in the wake of Asian markets, after demonstrations in major Chinese cities against drastic restrictions linked to COVID-19, which reignited investor concerns. on the growth of the world’s second largest economy.
The first futures contracts show a decline of 0.55% for the Parisian CAC 40, 0.47% for the Dax in Frankfurt, 0.54% for the FTSE in London and 0.43% for the EuroStoxx 50 .
Several hundred demonstrators clashed with police on Sunday evening in Shanghai as the protest movement against the “zero COVID” policy seems to have spread to many Chinese cities, a wave of disobedience unprecedented since Xi’s accession to power. Jinping in 2012.
“The scale of the demonstrations will inevitably lead to a response from Beijing (…) In addition to the risk of political instability, that linked to the epidemic continues to grow as winter approaches. Much more restrictions stringent restrictions coupled with economic upheaval are more likely in the coming weeks than a sudden easing of restrictions,” said Alvin Tan at RBC Capital Markets.
The number of new COVID cases in China hit an all-time high, with more than 40,000 new infections recorded on Sunday.
IN ASIA
Mainland China’s large-cap CSI 300 index lost 1.1% and Shanghai’s SSE Composite 0.8%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 1.73%.
Elsewhere, ZTE, Dahua Technology, Hikvision and Hytera Communications lost more than 2% after the Biden administration banned the sale of new telecom products on US soil over national security concerns.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei fell 0.42%, also affected by the social and health situation in China.
AT WALL STREET
After a shortened session, the New York Stock Exchange ended in scattered order on Friday: the Dow Jones index gained 0.45%, or 152.97 points, to 34,347.03 points, the S&P-500, more broad, lost 1.14 points, or 0.03% to 4,026.12 points and the Nasdaq Composite fell 58.96 points (-0.52%) to 11,226.36 points.
The latter was penalized by poor performance from Apple, which fell 1.95% on reports that iPhone production at Foxconn’s factory in Zhengzhou, China, could fall by at least 30%. in November.
In this “Black Friday”, marked by promotional operations, distribution groups such as Target (-0.02%), Macy’s (+0.98%) and Best Buy (-1.41%) ended in dispersed order while the consumer discretionary index was up slightly (+0.06%).
Futures contracts signal a lower session on Wall Street.
CHANGES
The greenback took advantage of its status as a safe haven and appreciated by 0.12% against a benchmark basket.
The latest developments in China halt the decline in the dollar index, which lost 0.9% last week on hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon slow the pace of its rate hikes, a scenario reinforced by the report of its November meeting.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak on the outlook for the U.S. economy and labor market at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution on Wednesday, which could provide new clues about the policy outlook. monetary institution.
The euro dropped 0.15% to 1.0379 dollars.
RATE
On the bond market, the yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds continued to decline, to 3.6424%, the lowest since early October.
OIL
The oil market is falling sharply due to fears for demand in China.
Brent fell 3.28% to $80.89 a barrel, after falling to a ten-month low of 80.16, and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 3.15% to 73, $88, after a low since December 2021 at 73.60.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by Nicolas Delame and Kate Entringer)