PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are catching their breath on Monday morning after five weeks of gains which took the Stoxx 600 close to a two-year high while awaiting the publication this week of inflation figures in Europe and in the USA.
In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.48% to 7,560.29 points around 08:45 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.06%, thanks in particular to energy stocks against a backdrop of fears over supplies after a drop in Russian crude exports and attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen against ships in the Red Sea . In Frankfurt, the Dax fell by 0.27%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index lost 0.35% and the FTSEurofirst 300 0.32%. The Stoxx 600 fell 0.21% after Friday’s increase, which allowed it to record five weeks in a row of gains, the longest series in this direction since April.
Futures contracts on Wall Street forecast an increase of 0.09% for the Dow Jones, 0.19% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.11% for the Nasdaq after a scattered session on Friday.
After the American Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will make its monetary policy decisions on Tuesday after two days of debate. Signs of a start to change the BoJ’s policy, which is the opposite of that of the other major central banks, are expected by the markets which are currently betting on a drop of more than 100 basis points in rates in Europe and the United States in 2024.
This hope will be tested by the inflation figures forecast for Tuesday in the euro zone, Wednesday in Great Britain and Friday in the United States.
On the stock market in Europe, the real estate sector (-0.51%) is weighing on the trend by taking profits after benefiting from the very sharp drop in bond yields last week.
The telecoms sector (+0.35%) is in demand, with Iliad having announced on Monday that it had submitted to the Vodafone group (+5.71%) a proposal to merge their activities in Italy into a new joint venture.
Dutch chemical manufacturer OCI jumped 10.19%, leading the Stoxx 600, after announcing the sale of its stake in Iowa Fertilizer Company for $3.6 billion to Koch AG & Energy Solutions.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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