by Laetitia Volga
PARIS (Reuters) – European stocks ended higher on Friday, but far from their highs of the day, while Wall Street went into the red, while negotiations on raising the debt ceiling seem to have reached an impasse again. .
The Parisian CAC 40 index rose to 7,523.56 before ending at 7,491.96 points, up 0.61%. The British Footsie took 0.19% and the German Dax, which reached a new session record, gained 0.69%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index gained 0.64%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.68% and the Stoxx 600 0.66%.
After opening higher, the major Wall Street indices were down around 0.3% at the close in Europe.
The top Republican negotiator on the US debt file has said talks between his side in the House of Representatives and the Biden administration have stalled, reigniting uncertainty over a deal that will avoid a default of payment by the United States at the beginning of June.
“The Republican negotiators have just left the table of discussions (…) It may be to increase the pressure on the Democratic group and to take advantage of the fact that Joe Biden is abroad. But it is certainly not positive on a Friday afternoon (for the markets),” said Quincy Krosby at LPL Financial.
European stock markets reduced their gains on this information, but the Stoxx 600 still posted an increase of 0.72% over the week, its best weekly performance since mid-April.
The chairman of the Federal Reserve has made comments more favorable to equities, added Quincy Krosby. While Jerome Powell reaffirmed that the central bank remains committed to bringing inflation back to the 2% target, he also stressed that the consequences of recent problems in the banking sector were “reducing the pressure” for a rate hike. .
RATE
Benchmark bond yields in the euro zone and the United States largely reduced their advance when Jerome Powell spoke in Washington, his comments reigniting speculation of a pause in the rise in US interest rates.
The ten-year German rate ended up slightly, around 2.43%, after having come close to 2.5% during the day.
In the United States, the yield on Treasuries with the same maturity gained one basis point to 3.6688%, after a peak in session at 3.72%.
CHANGES
For the same reason, the dollar (-0.44%) widened its losses against a basket of international currencies. The euro (+0.41%) took advantage of this to rise to more than 1.08.
VALUES
Few stocks stood out on this rather calm Friday in micro and macroeconomics.
Note, however, the 3.3% decline of Adidas, a collateral victim of Foot Locker, which fell 27.2% on Wall Street after lowering its annual forecasts due to weak demand and major promotions for sell off their stocks.
OIL
Also affected by the suspension of discussions on raising the US federal debt ceiling, the oil market is losing ground: Brent lost 0.37% to 75.58 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI ) 0.42% to $71.56.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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