(CercleFinance.com) – The main European stock markets remain in contact with their equilibrium point this morning, without much movement, with +0.1% for Paris and Frankfurt and -0.2% in London.
For this last session of the week, investors should still avoid taking risks knowing that Wall Street will only reopen for a shortened session on this ‘Black Friday’, the day which kicks off the commercial frenzy of the Christmas holidays. end of the year.
In the absence of catalysts, risk appetite remains fueled by the hope of a lull in interest rates.
The ECB’s minutes, published yesterday, showed that the Governing Council stands ready for further rate hikes, even if this option does not correspond to its base case.
The PMI indices revealed on Thursday also showed that activity in the euro zone had contracted for the sixth month in a row in November, further reinforcing the probability of a recession, a scenario that the ECB is seeking to prevent. to be avoided at all costs.
In this context, the Ifo business climate index in Germany, which was published this morning, is particularly watched by investors.
The business climate improved slightly in November in Germany, a rebound however insufficient to escape current recessionary pressures, according to the monthly survey published Friday by the Ifo institute.
Its business climate index, calculated from the responses of 9,000 companies, stood at 87.3 for the current month, compared to 86.9 in October, where economists on average anticipated an index of 87.5 .
In the United States, the only indicator on the menu today is the PMI index, which seems to have stabilized a little above the critical threshold of 50 points since September.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro remains stable against the greenback, around $1.09/euro.
Crude prices appear hesitant as investors’ attention will gradually turn to Vienna, where the ministers of OPEC and its allies will decide next week on their production strategy.
Brent nibbles 0.4% to $81.6 per barrel while an ounce of gold gains 0.3% to $1,995.
In European company news, BASF announces that it has reached ‘a major milestone’ in the construction of a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. In cooperation with Siemens Energy, the water electrolysis work at the Ludwigshafen site – the so-called Hy4Chem-EI project – will be able to enter the next construction phase.
Mercedes-Benz today announced that the McLaren F1 team will continue to benefit from its Mercedes-AMG power unit until 2030, extending their collaboration for another four years.
Finally, Vestas indicates that it has received an order for 270 MW to power a wind project belonging to a subsidiary of Engie North America in the United States. The order concerns 60 V163-4.5 MW wind turbines.
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