(Reuters) – European stocks ended in mixed order on Thursday as investors wavered after the U.S. economy surprised on the second-quarter contraction, as oil rose more than two dollars a barrel and yields on treasury bonds fell.
In Paris, the CAC 40 ended up 1.3% at 6,339.21 points. The British Footsie lost 0.04% and the German Dax gained 0.88%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index gained 1.23%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.97% and the Stoxx 600 1.09%.
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) contracted in the second quarter, falling 0.9% annualized over the April-June period, shows the Commerce Department’s first estimate released Thursday, after a contraction of 1.6% in the first quarter. [L8N2Z9760]
The contraction is fueling speculation of a slowdown in monetary tightening by the Fed, which on Wednesday raised the federal funds rate target by three-quarters of a point.
The comments of its chairman Jerome Powell have indeed given some investors hope that the pace of rate hikes will slow down.
VALUES
Ipsen (+16.17%) ended among the biggest risers in the Stoxx 600 after raising its annual outlook.
Schneider Electric, at the top of the CAC 40, wins 6.5%.
Airbus posted one of the strongest declines in the CAC 40 (-2.94%) after lowering its aircraft delivery target for 2022 on Wednesday.
AT WALL STREET
At the time of the close in Europe, Wall Street was moving up slightly, the Dow Jones index gained 0.64% to 32,405.24 points and the wider Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.71%.
The Nasdaq Composite takes 0.59%.
THE INDICATORS OF THE DAY
In Germany, inflation recorded an unexpected acceleration in July to reach 8.5% year on year, while economists polled by Reuters on average expected a slight slowdown to 8.1% year on year after the increase of 8, 2% in June.
Another economic indicator of the day, weekly jobless claims fell to 256,000 in the United States against 261,000 the previous week.
CHANGES
The greenback erases its gains after a rebound at midday, as the announcement of the contraction of the American GDP feeds the speculations on a slowdown in the monetary tightening of the Fed. The dollar is up against a basket of benchmark currencies (+0.34%) while the euro, at 1.0128 dollars (-0.73%), erases almost all of its gains from the previous day
RATE
Eurozone bond yields fell on Thursday on heightened global recession fears, including the unexpected pick-up in German inflation in July.
The ten-year Bund yield fell 13 basis points to 0.8030%.
The yield on the French OAT of the same maturity fell by 15 basis points to 1.3740%.
The yield on 10-year US Treasury bills stands at 2.6723%, down more than five basis points.
OIL
Oil rose more than two dollars a barrel on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session, supported by better risk appetite among investors, as crude inventories fell and gasoline demand rebounded. in the United States supported prices.
The barrel of Brent rose 0.97% to 107.65 dollars.
The barrel of American light crude takes 0.93% to 98.17 dollars.
TO BE CONTINUED Friday:
Among the indicators expected on Friday, investors will pay attention to the results of the first estimate of the GDP of the Euro Zone, France and Germany. Also expected are preliminary inflation figures for France and the euro zone in July.
(Written by Kate Entringer, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)