Paris (awp / afp) – European stock markets rebounded on Monday, reassured by the Chinese Central Bank, which slightly eased its monetary policy to boost growth stifled by the resumption of the pandemic.
The European indices rose by 0.71% in Paris, 0.41% in Frankfurt, 0.77% in London and 0.44% in Milan around 1:00 p.m. GMT. In Zurich, the SMI gained 0.74%.
Wall Street was closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day holiday.
China announced on Monday a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) up 8.1% in 2021, the highest in a decade. However, in the fourth quarter, growth lost momentum (+4% over one year, after 4.9% in the previous one).
Worrying data for domestic demand, retail sales, the main indicator of consumption, rose last month by only 1.7% year on year, their weakest increase since the summer of 2020.
In the aftermath, China’s central bank cut a key interest rate on Monday for the first time since April 2020 to support the economy.
The rate at which it lends to the country’s banks has been cut by 10 basis points, a measure that aims to facilitate lending to businesses.
The action of the Chinese Central Bank comes as the health situation is tense three weeks before the Winter Olympics.
Conversely, the gradual abolition of monetary support measures linked to the crisis is underway in the United States and to a lesser extent in Europe.
Investors seem to take for granted a first rate hike in March in the United States in order to curb inflation which is affecting consumer confidence.
“Volatility is set to rise again this week as investors watch the opening of the earnings season cautiously, curious to see how companies cope with the impact of the Omicron variant as well as the prospect of a tightening. monetary policy in the United States,” said Pierre Veyret, analyst at ActivTrades.
Risky assets, including equities, have so far fully benefited from the very low levels of interest rates but also from excess savings and abundant liquidity linked to the health crisis.
“A slowdown in the economic regime has always been envisaged and growth will reduce again in the coming quarters, as Central Banks around the world increase their rates in unison”, writes for his part Géraldine Sundstrom, manager. portfolio at Pimco.
Unilever committed to buying GSK’s consumer arm ___
Food and hygiene giant Unilever has clarified its growth strategy towards “health, beauty and hygiene” and persisted with a £50bn offer for a GSK Consumer Healthcare unit, rejected by GSK. The unit includes in particular brands of toothpaste or non-prescription drugs. Unilever shares fell 7.75% to 3,631.5 pence while GSK climbed 4.01% to 1,706.80 pence around 12:50 GMT.
Resignation of the Chairman of Credit Suisse ___
Credit Suisse President Antonio Horta-Osório, splashed by revelations around the quarantine rules he broke, has resigned from his post, announced the bank, which chose Axel Lehmann to succeed him. Credit Suisse shares lost 1.63% to 9.39 Swiss francs.
On the side of oil, euro and bitcoin ___
Oil prices were heading lower again mid-session, after extending their gains early in the day.
The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea oil for March maturity fell 0.33% to $85.78 after earlier hitting $86.71 a barrel, the highest since October 2018
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February stabilized (-0.06%) at 83.77 dollars.
The European currency yielded 0.08% to 1.1409 dollars around 12:50 GMT.
Bitcoin fell 0.78% to $42,646.
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