by Claude Chendjou
PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended with slight variations on Friday, while Wall Street was in the green at mid-session in a session marked by numerous publications which supported prices while mixed macroeconomic indicators, notably the report on employment in the United States, caused bond yields to rise sharply.
In Paris, the CAC 40 finished almost stable (+0.05%) at 7,592.26 points after rising during the session to 7,644.13 points, two days after its historic peak at 7,702.95 points.
The Parisian index underperformed other European markets due to continued sales in stocks such as Dassault Systèmes (-2.56%) and Sanofi (-2.18%), which published their quarterly accounts on Thursday. . The automobile industry, with stocks like Renault (+2.62%) and Stellantis (+2.28%), however limited the decline. Over the week as a whole, the CAC 40 posted a loss of 0.54%.
The British Footsie lost (-0.09%), with the decline in raw materials. The German Dax, which recorded a record during the session at 17,004.55 points, advanced 0.35%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index rose 0.34% and the FTSEurofirst 300 finished unchanged. The Stoxx 600 also reached a new peak during the session at 487.66 points, before ending with a gain of 0.01%.
At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones, weighed down in particular by Apple (-0.18%), was volatile but gained 0.1%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 advances by 0.91% and the Nasdaq by 1.52%.
The solid quarterly results published Thursday evening by Amazon (+8.02%) and especially Meta Platforms (+21.27%), which will pay a dividend to its shareholders for the first time, offer significant support to the indices. Facebook’s parent company drives the social networks Snap (+6.93%) and Pinterest (+4.61%).
In Europe, the new technologies compartment ended with a gain of 0.24%.
The publication by the US Department of Labor of the monthly employment report, which reported 353,000 job creations in January, in principle removing the prospect of an imminent rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed), does not failed to completely quell market enthusiasm.
According to Richard Flynn, managing director of Charles Schwab UK, investors are starting to come to terms with an environment of high rates and a resilient economy.
VALUES IN EUROPE
Vallourec jumped 3.09% after the group reported figures for 2023 higher than its own expectations and announced that it expected net debt to be reduced to zero at the end of 2025.
Danske Bank rose 8.08% after releasing its fourth quarter results and announcing a share buyback program.
TomTom soared 11.2% thanks to its forecasts and a quarterly net loss less marked than expected.
TODAY’S INDICATORS
American household morale rose above the initially estimated figure in January, at 79.0 after 69.7 in December, show the final results of the University of Michigan survey.
Industrial orders in the United States slowed in December but at a pace in line with expectations, according to data from the US Department of Commerce.
France’s industrial production increased by 1.1% in December compared to the previous month, according to INSEE data.
CHANGES
The dollar rose 0.93% against a basket of benchmark currencies, to a seven-week peak after the US employment report.
The euro fell by 0.82%, to 1.0783 dollars, while the pound sterling stood at 1.2619 dollars (-0.97%).
RATE
Eurozone sovereign yields jumped to a three-month high, with the ten-year German Bund rate ending with a gain of more than nine basis points, at 2.237% and the two-year rate with a rise of 12.3 points, at 2.5617%.
ECB short-term rate futures show the institution is expected to cut rates by just 130 basis points by the end of the year, compared to an expectation of 140 bps before the US jobs report .
The U.S. Treasury yield climbs nearly 20 basis points to 4.0485% as traders now put the likelihood of a Fed rate cut in May at around 71% from 92% before the release on employment in the United States.
OIL
The oil market fell sharply in reaction to the publication of American employment: Brent lost 1.97% to 77.15 dollars per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 2.33% to 72.10 dollars.
The two oil benchmarks are expected to post a loss of around 8% for the week as a whole.
(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
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