by Marc Angrand
PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to rise and European stocks rose mid-session on Friday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s evocation of progress in talks with Ukraine allows stocks to amplify their rebound and the euro to regain ground after the losses suffered the day before.
Futures contracts on the main New York indices signal an increase of 1.2% at the opening for the Dow Jones, 1.34% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 1.61% for the Nasdaq.
In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 2.26% to 6,347.28 points around 11:55 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 takes 1.82% and in Frankfurt, the Dax advances by 3.07%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index is up 2.56%, the FTSEurofirst 300 2.24% and the Stoxx 600 1.86%.
They had ended in the red on Thursday after the announcement by the European Central Bank (ECB) of its desire to end its bond purchases more quickly than expected in the face of soaring prices and inflation of 7 .9% over one year in February in the United States, unprecedented for 40 years.
Timid at the start, the rebound asserted itself over the hours to accelerate frankly after the statements of Vladimir Putin, who spoke of “positive developments” in the negotiations with kyiv, without however specifying their nature.
The Stoxx 600 is currently showing a gain of 3.1% over the whole week against +4.7% for the CAC 40, after three consecutive weeks of decline.
On Wall Street, the session will be animated among other things by the publication at 3:00 p.m. GMT of the first results of the University of Michigan survey on household confidence, but market participants are already planning for next week and the meeting. the Federal Reserve, which should end with a rate hike.
VALUES IN EUROPE
All the major sectors of the European stock market are on the rise, with the best mid-session performances being for the transport and leisure compartment, whose Stoxx index gained 5.34%, for that of insurance (+ 3.42%) and for that of the automobile (+2.92%).
Banks, which were losing ground at the start of the session due to fears linked to the economic fallout from the war in Ukraine, are back in the green (+2.88%).
In the news of the results, EssilorLuxottica wins 6.1% after saying it expects an operating margin of nearly 20% by 2026.
Italian defense and aeronautics group Leonardo jumped 15.46% after saying it expected the announced increase in defense budgets in Europe to boost its results and cash flow.
In London, Pearson takes 19.49%; the American fund Apollo has announced that it is studying the possibility of a takeover bid.
RATE
Falling in early trade, the yield on US Treasuries rose again after Vladimir Putin’s statement and gained more than two basis points to 2.0057%, confirming the return to more than 2% sketched Thursday in session.
Its German equivalent, at 0.295%, is also up two points, after a jump of nearly eight points on Thursday in response to announcements from the European Central Bank (ECB).
CHANGES
The words of the Russian president also benefit the euro, which rose to 1.1015 dollars (+0.29%) after falling close to 1.0960 at the start of the session.
The dollar lost 0.18% against other major currencies.
OIL
The oil market remains on the upside due to a lack of details on the evolution of world supply in the coming weeks, but it is heading for its biggest weekly drop since November, a consequence of profit taking after its recent records.
Brent gained 1.45% to 110.92 dollars a barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) took 1.27% to 107.37 dollars.
The price of a barrel of Brent is currently down 6% over the week, the WTI down 7%.
(Written by Marc Angrand, edited by Matthieu Protard)