by Claude Chendjou
PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street is up on Wednesday at the midpoint and the European stock markets ended in the green a session where several indices recorded historic peaks thanks to further easing in the bond market and a good performance in the sector in consumption after the solid results of H&M.
In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a gain of 0.25% to 8,204.81 points after a session record of 8,230.38 points. The German Dax, which gained 0.49%, also recorded an unprecedented peak at 18,511.17 points during the session. The British Footsie advanced 0.01%, its gains limited by the fall in energy stocks.
The EuroStoxx 50 index increased by 0.32% after an unprecedented high of 5,095.11 points. The FTSEurofirst 300 gained 0.08%. The Stoxx 600, which is on track to record a gain of almost 7% since the start of the year, gained 0.11% after a record of 512.45 points.
The stock markets have been hitting records after records for several weeks thanks to a reinforced conviction of a reduction in the key rates of the major central banks in the coming months, to the point that the latest mixed macroeconomic indicators have no influence on investor morale.
This was again verified in today’s session, where the indices reacted little to the resurgence of inflation in Spain, to the revision of growth forecasts for Germany, as well as to doubts about the reduction of the deficit from France.
On the eve of the last session of the week on the financial markets due to the Easter holidays, the few investors present are mainly awaiting the figures for the PCE price index in the United States which will be published on Friday.
In the meantime, sovereign yields in Europe and the United States have fallen significantly, which has benefited many sectors on the Stoxx 600.
The consumption (+0.72%) and distribution (+2.65%) sectors particularly stood out following the results of the Swedish fashion group H&M.
VALUES IN EUROPE
H&M (+15.19%) finished at the top of the Stoxx 600 after reporting quarterly profit above expectations on Wednesday.
The British packaging specialist DS Smith climbed 10.22% following discussions with International Paper with a view to a purchase offer of 5.72 billion pounds.
In Paris, the luxury sector was well oriented, notably with L’Oréal (+1.16%) and LVMH (+1.03%), while Veolia (+1.94%) dominated the CAC 40.
A WALL STREET
At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones rose by 0.70%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.36% and the Nasdaq by 0.13% in limited trading volumes.
The S&P recorded 38 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 69 new highs and 57 new lows.
The Dow Jones was supported on Friday in particular by Merck & Co (4.31%), which obtained approval from the American health authority for its Winrevair treatment in adults suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension.
The semiconductor compartment (+0.57%) also contributes to the good performance of the indices, despite profit taking on Nvidia (-2.77%).
Nine of the 11 main sectors of the S&P 500 are in the green, led by utilities (+1.96%) and real estate (+1.66%).
CHANGES
The yen, which fell to 151.97 per dollar on Wednesday, its lowest level since 1990, prompted an emergency meeting of Japanese authorities.
The dollar nibbles 0.04% against a basket of reference currencies, including the euro which stands at 1.0821 dollars (-0.08%).
RATE
The yield on the ten-year German Bund ended down 5.5 basis points, at 2.292%, at a two-week low. The two-year rate lost around 4.5 points, to 2.8107%, despite the resurgence of inflation in Spain. The figures on this subject for the entire euro zone will be published next week.
In the United States, the yield on ten-year Treasuries fell by almost four points, to 4.1943%, and that on two years by 3.3 points, to 4.5661%.
OIL
The oil market is in the red for the second consecutive session amid a rise in US crude stocks last week, according to figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Brent lost 0.57% to $85.76 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) lost 0.54% to $81.18.
(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters