Europe ends painfully in the green a volatile session


by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – European stocks ended slightly higher on Friday and Wall Street was trading in the green late morning in New York in a volatile session where investors were torn between hope for a lull in interest rates. interest following a further slowdown in US inflation and mixed corporate results.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a modest gain of 0.02% to 7,097.21 points. The British Footsie gained 0.05% and the German Dax gained 0.11%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index gained 0.1%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.17% and the Stoxx 600 0.26%.

Over the week as a whole, the Parisian CAC 40 gained 1.44% and the pan-European Stoxx 600 0.67%, resuming a weekly gain after the decline recorded last week which had put an end to an uninterrupted cycle of increases. since the beginning of the year.

The day’s session in Europe was mainly driven by a new series of results from companies which generally offered support to the indices, particularly in the luxury sector.

VALUES IN EUROPE

LVMH’s financial publications blew hot and cold on the CAC 40. The title of the luxury giant, which closed down 0.07%, evolved during the session in a range of -2.2% to +0.8% after the announcement of higher-than-expected organic revenue growth in the fourth quarter but a stable margin level compared to 2021 and a slowdown in activity in China.

The session was less volatile for other luxury stocks such as Richemont (+1.06%), Kering (+1.78%) and Moncler (+2.37%).

The results of the street furniture group JCDecaux (+3.11%) and the Swedish steelmaker SSAB (+10.1%) also supported the indices on the Stoxx 600, while those of Rémy Cointreau (-3.72%) and H&M (-4.12%) disappointed.

Scor, down 7.56%, suffered from the announcement of the resignation of its CEO, and Airbus, down 3.57%, was penalized by the lowering of Jefferies’ recommendation.

AT WALL STREET

At the time of the close in Europe, the Dow Jones advanced by 0.12%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.21% and the Nasdaq by 0.68% in a seesaw session.

Intel plunged 7.31% after announcing a net loss forecast for the current quarter against a backdrop of deteriorating prospects for the PC and data center market. Its competitors like Qualcomm are also in the red as the semiconductor index drops 0.86%.

Chevron and Hasbro fell 4.25% and 6.91% respectively after results below expectations, while the forecasts of American Express (+10.95%) and Visa (+2.40%) are welcomed.

THE INDICATORS OF THE DAY

In the US, the Commerce Department reported a 0.2% drop in consumer spending in December and a further deceleration in inflation as the US Federal Reserve (Fed) meets from from next Tuesday for two days.

The so-called PCE consumer price index, closely followed by the Fed, rose 0.1% last month, as in November. Over one year, however, its rise slowed to 5.0% after 5.3% in November.

The “core PCE” index, excluding energy and food, rose by 0.3% after 0.2% in November, for an annual increase of 4.4% in December and 4.7% in November.

“These data will no doubt be enough to justify the Fed slowing its rate hike to 25 basis points when it makes its decision on February 1,” predicts Art Hogan, strategist at B. Riley Wealth.

CHANGES

The dollar index, which measures the fluctuations of the greenback against a basket of reference currencies, advances by 0.17% after the latest American indicators.

The euro fell 0.32% to 1.0854 dollars.

RATE

Bond yields rise slightly ahead of Fed, European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) meetings next week. Traders are betting on a 50 basis point rise in rates in the euro zone and the United Kingdom against a 25 point rise in the United States.

The ten-year German Bund yield ended with a gain of two points, at 2.24%, and its American equivalent of the same maturity appears at 3.52%, up about three points.

OIL

Oil prices, which rose more than 1% on Thursday, driven by recent economic data in the United States and the hope of an increase in Chinese demand for crude, started to fall again on Friday. The two oil benchmarks, however, should end a third consecutive week in the green.

Brent lost 0.83% to 86.74 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.11% to 80.11 dollars.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Bertrand Boucey)



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