PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are slightly in the green on Thursday morning, driven in particular by some solid company results, but the trend remains cautious before the publication of inflation figures in the United States.
In Paris, around 09:10 GMT, the CAC 40 rose 0.06% to 7,959.34 points, after reaching an unprecedented peak at 7,977.68 points. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.48% after hitting a historic peak at 17,686.95 points. In London, the FTSE 100 advanced 0.30%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index increased by 0.08% and the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.30%. The Stoxx 600, up 0.16%, is also very close to its record of 497.74 points.
Futures contracts on Wall Street predict a drop of 0.23% for the Dow Jones, 0.22% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.27% for the Nasdaq the day after a session already in decline.
Investors across the Atlantic are being cautious before the publication at 1:30 p.m. GMT of statistics on American household income and expenditure, which includes the PCE price index, closely followed by the Federal Reserve (Fed).
This indicator could influence the timing of the expected rate cut in the United States while recent data on consumer prices (CPI) and producer prices (PPI) have tempered expectations in this area.
In France, the increase in consumer prices, harmonized with European standards, slowed down year-on-year in February, to 3.1% year-on-year, while the fall in production prices deepened in January over one month. , by -1.3%.
Inflation in Spain has also fallen, to 2.9% year-on-year in February, and the market is now awaiting figures from Germany at 1:00 p.m. GMT before those from the entire euro zone on Friday.
In addition to inflation, economic data are also analyzed, the growth of the French economy having been slightly revised upwards in the fourth quarter of 2023 to, +0.1%, while in Germany, retail sales have posted a surprise drop over one month in January, of 0.4%.
In Paris, the results of Eiffage (+4.24%), Getlink (+3.53%) and Neoen (+5.42%) are well received, which contrasts with those of Veolia (-1.85% ), Air France-KLM (-8.50%), Technip Energies (-0.67%), SES (-4.10%) and even Nexity (-21.97%).
Atos fell 1.53% after new appointments to its board following Wednesday’s announcement of the failure of discussions with Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky on the proposed sale of its Tech Foundations division.
Elsewhere in Europe, Beiersdorf, the manufacturer of Nivea, lost 3.49% after announcing that it anticipated a slowdown in the growth of its organic sales this year.
German semiconductor equipment manufacturer Aixtron plunged 13.75%, the biggest drop in the Stoxx 600, despite its forecast of further growth in its turnover for this year.
On the upside, the British group CRH jumped 7.12% thanks to its forecasts for this year, while Ocado, which reported an annual pre-tax loss less marked than expected, gained 2.83%.
(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
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