PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are moving down slightly at the start of the session on Tuesday, the publication of contrasting economic indicators in China allowing investors to breathe after several sessions spent in the green.
In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.09% to 7,036.74 points at 09:08 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 lost 0.08% and in Frankfurt, the Dax fell 0.16%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index is down 0.16%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.13% and the Stoxx 600 0.11%.
The latter took 2% over the previous four sessions, which brought it to its highest level since April.
Investors continue to digest the slew of statistics released in the morning in China. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 2.9% year-on-year over the last three months of 2022, official statistics showed, a pace above the Reuters consensus, however. And for 2022 as a whole, China’s GDP will grow by 3.0%, which marks one of the lowest growth rates since 1976.
At the same time, Chinese industrial production came in above expectations, at +1.3% year on year in December, and the decline in retail sales slowed more than expected, to 1.8%.
“Fourth quarter GDP growth, which was much higher than expected, was due to the upside surprise in consumption. But retail sales were down 1.8% year-on-year, however. This puzzles us,” he said. said Tommy Wu, senior economist at Commerzbank.
“The current wave of COVID-19 is likely to weigh on China’s growth early this year. But the rapid and abrupt reopening means that economic activity could return to normal in the second quarter or even as early as the month of March”.
Shanghai’s SSE Composite closed down 0.1% while mainland China’s CSI 300 ended in balance.
In values, Renault is stabilizing after having taken up 1.5%. Multiple sources told Reuters that the automaker and China’s Geely were working to finalize an agreement on Saudi Aramco’s entry as an investor and partner in their gasoline engine and hybrid technology joint venture.
Other sources have also indicated that the directors of Nissan had given the green light to reach an agreement with Renault on the reorganization of their alliance, after the latest proposals made by the French group.
STMicroelectronics gained 1.41% in Paris after Barclays started monitoring the title to “overweight”, with a target of 60 euros.
Global luxury giant LVMH briefly hit a record high of 795.70 euros, giving it a market capitalization of more than 400 billion euros for the first time.
Biggest drop in the Footsie, Ocado fell 5.45% as the online supermarket joint venture with Marks & Spencer reported a slowdown in consumption in the pre-Christmas period.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by Blandine Hénault)