PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets, except for London, ended in the green on Friday and on Wall Street, the Nasdaq continued its rebound at mid-session, the impetus given to equities by the slowdown in inflation in the United States continuing with the easing of health restrictions in China.
In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.58% (37.79 points) to 6,594.62 points, after rising in session to 6,636.81, its best level since April. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.56% while in London, the FTSE 100 fell 0.78%, penalized by fears of a long recession after the confirmation of the decline in gross domestic product (GDP) in third trimester.
The EuroStoxx 50 index ended the day up 0.57%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.04% and the Stoxx 600 0.09%.
At the time of the close in Europe, Wall Street was moving in mixed order, the Dow Jones yielding 0.8% while the Standard & Poor’s 500 was almost flat and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.45%.
The announcement by the crypto-asset exchange platform FTX of its bankruptcy filing and the resignation of its managing director encourages some investors to hold back, but the trend remains supported by the latest news from Beijing, where authorities have decided to ease some of the health restrictions aimed at curbing the COVID-19 outbreak.
And the main driver of the rebound in equities remains the slowdown in US inflation, which gives hope for a less restrictive policy on the part of the Federal Reserve in the months to come.
“The reaction to this number seems a bit extreme, maybe even exaggerated, but in all honesty, investors have waited a long time for this opportunity and there have been so many negative elements embedded during this time,” summarizes Craig Erlam, senior analyst from Oanda.
Over the week as a whole, the Stoxx 600 rose by 3.66% and the CAC 40 by 2.78%. The Parisian market thus posted six consecutive weeks of rebound.
VALUES
In Europe, the easing of Chinese health constraints, which could encourage a faster recovery in demand, combined with the impact of the fall in the dollar on the prices of base metals, benefited the raw materials sector, whose Stoxx index gained 2.58%.
Steelmaker ArcelorMittal gained 5.72%, mining giant Rio Tinto 4.86%.
The news also benefited luxury stocks like LVMH (+2.82%) or Kering (+2.18%) while Richemont took 10.46% after quarterly results driven by its jewelry sales.
In the wake of the Nasdaq, the high-tech compartment gained 1.71%