File photo of the entrance to the London Stock Exchange, Britain
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are on the downside on Friday, investors showing nervousness with the first releases of PMI activity data while central bankers remain offensive in raising interest rates.
In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.31% to 7,181.29 points around 07:25 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.29% and in Frankfurt, the Dax fell 0.53%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.31%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.26% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.14%.
Futures on Wall Street point to a drop of 0.24% for the Dow Jones, 0.34% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.36% for the Nasdaq the day after a technical rebound after three sessions in the red.
Among the preliminary indicators of PMI activity in Europe and the United States expected during the day, data in France showed a contraction in the composite index to 47.3 in June. In the euro zone, the Reuters consensus expects the composite index to slow to 52.5 after 52.8 the previous month. Across the Atlantic, the PMIs should also show a deceleration.
The data comes as US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell twice this week stressed to Congress the need to continue the monetary tightening that began in March 2022 despite job risks. and the situation.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB), the Norges Bank and the Bank of England (BoE) also made further increases in their respective key rates on Thursday after a similar decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) last week.
With these interest rate hikes and in the absence of stimulus from China, markets now fear a sharp slowdown in the global economy, leading to a safe haven to the dollar and a drop in risky assets. .
On the stock market, Siemens Energy plunged 31.59% after giving up its profit forecast for this year. Chief executive Christian Bruch said on Friday that the quality issues identified in the Siemens Gamesa division were “more serious than expected”.
Eni lost 0.5% after the announcement of the takeover of the gas and oil producer Neptune Energy for an amount of 4.9 billion dollars (4.48 billion euros), debt included.
At the sectoral level, the oil and gas compartment shows the largest drop with a decline of 1.79%.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)