by Laetitia Volga
PARIS (Reuters) – After an attempted rebound at midday under the impetus of Wall Street, European stock markets finally ended down on Thursday under the effect of fears linked to the economic situation.
In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.56% to 5,883.33 points. The British Footsie lost 0.97% and the German Dax fell 1.76%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index fell 0.82%, the FTSEurofirst 300 fell 0.8% and the Stoxx 600, which has bottomed since February 2021, fell 0.82%.
This benchmark in Europe is down 18.6% since its closing peak on January 5, bringing it closer to the ‘bear market’ zone, defined by a decline of 20% from a recent high.
European indices rallied during the session as Wall Street rose, but monetary and economic concerns got the better of this brief rebound.
The publication of the PMI indices has rightly confirmed these fears: growth in economic activity in the euro zone slowed more markedly than expected in June due to the impact of inflation.
The session was also animated by the second hearing in the US Congress of Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve. After acknowledging the day before that monetary tightening poses a risk of recession, he reiterated, this time before the representatives, that the Fed’s commitment was “unconditional”.
VALUES
At the sectoral level, cyclical stocks suffered particularly: that of the automobile industry fell by 3.64% and that of the banks by 3.35%, the latter being affected by the drop in bond yields.
BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale lost from 3.97% to 5.51%. In Frankfurt, Deutsche Bank fell 12.19%.
Atos rose 6.18%, taking advantage of information from BFM Business that the state would be in favor of a merger with Thales, down 0.98%.
Valneva, whose trading was suspended for much of the day, gained 19.62% after receiving a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for marketing authorization in Europe of its vaccine candidate against COVID-19.
AT WALL STREET
At the time of the close in Europe, Wall Street was moving on a positive note: the Dow Jones took 0.5%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite 1.5%.
THE INDICATORS OF THE DAY
In the United States, growth in private sector activity slowed in June to 51.2, the lowest level in five months, as high inflation and falling consumer confidence dampened demand across the board. the sectors.
Jobless claims fell a little less than expected last week to 229,000.
CHANGES
Yields on government bonds fell sharply amid economic fears: that of the ten-year German Bund hit a two-week low in session at 1.39%.
In the United States, the ten-year Treasuries yield lost nearly 12 basis points to 3.0405%
RATE
The dollar rose 0.27% against a basket of benchmark currencies.
The euro, down 0.52%, is trading at 1.051 dollar, penalized by the poor figures of the PMI indices, which lead some traders to anticipate less aggressive monetary tightening from the European Central Bank.
OIL
The oil market is retreating as investors reconsider the impact of a potential downturn in the economy and rate hikes by major central banks on demand for crude.
Brent lost 0.55% to 111.12 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 0.76% to 105.38 dollars.
(Written by Laetitia Volga and Valentine Baldassari, edited by Nicolas Delame)
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