PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are trading in the red in early trading on Monday after Friday’s short-lived rebound, with risk aversion returning ahead of the release of services PMI indices in Europe and after Moscow’s decision to shut down the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline indefinitely.
In Paris, the CAC 40 dropped 1.86% to 6,052.87 points at 08:35 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 lost 0.72% and in Frankfurt, the Dax lost 2.72%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 2.17%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 1.32% and the Stoxx 600 by 1.42%.
Wall Street, which ended in decline on Friday, is closed on Monday due to “Labor Day”.
Russia announced Friday evening that the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which supplies Europe, would not restart due to an oil leak, an explanation rejected by Brussels which accuses Moscow of using gas as an economic weapon in retaliation for its sanctions.
The gas futures contract on the Dutch market jumped 22.51% on Monday to 256.05 euros per megawatt hour, regaining much of the ground lost last week.
Several countries in the community bloc, including France and Germany, immediately announced emergency plans over the weekend to avoid a new spike in energy prices as fears over inflation and recession are getting stronger.
The final monthly S&P Global services PMI indices in Europe are due out on Monday, along with Eurozone retail sales figures. These data should fuel the debate on the extent of the European Central Bank’s rate hike on Thursday as markets still expect a three-quarter point rise in the cost of credit.
On the Stoxx 600, apart from energy and raw materials, all the other compartments are moving in the red, the most marked falls being in the assets of cyclical sectors, sensitive to the economic situation, such as those of banks (-2, 19%), automotive (-3.26%) or construction (-2.33%).
In individual values, Engie fell by 2.12%, RWE by 3.77%, Uniper by 10.73% and its parent company Fortum by 5.45%, in reaction to the extension of the closure of Nord Stream 1.
The TF1 group sells 1.62%. The Bouygues subsidiary (-2.43%) said on Monday it was considering filing a complaint against Canal+, owned by Vivendi (-1.09%), in the context of the commercial dispute between them over the broadcasting of its free DTT channels. .
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Tangi Salaün)
Copyright © 2022 Thomson Reuters