by Claude Chendjou
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets, apart from London, ended with a slight rebound on Tuesday and Wall Street was in disarray at the end of the morning in New York, the session being dominated by wait-and-see behavior before the publication from Wednesday of a series of key indicators, including American gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation in the euro zone and across the Atlantic.
In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a gain of 0.23%, at 7,948.4 points, approaching its historic peak of 7,976.4 reached last week. The German Dax gained 0.76% after recording a record session at 17,563.41 points. The British Footsie, the only major European index to have finished in the green on Monday, fell by 0.02% on Tuesday.
The EuroStoxx 50 index increased by 0.44% and the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.24%. The Stoxx 600, which came close to its record of 497.74 points, gained 0.18% to 496.33, thanks in particular to the rebound in the basic resources compartment (+1.65%) and solid corporate results. In France.
At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones fell 0.42% and the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 0.01%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.23%.
Tesla outperforms mega-caps with a gain of 1.5% thanks to a slight easing in the bond compartment. Results from companies like Macy’s (+4.58%), Lowe’s (+2.42%) or Zoom Video Communications (+6.43%) fuel discussions without much conviction.
Investors are more focused on Thursday’s publication of the PCE price index in the United States as recent data on consumer prices (CPI) and producer prices (PPI) in the country have fueled the hypothesis of seeing the American Federal Reserve (Fed) make its first rate cut only in July.
Ahead of US inflation, the market will take note of the second estimate of US GDP for the fourth quarter on Wednesday as the US economy continues to show signs of stronger resistance than expected, which argues in favor of disfavor of imminent monetary easing.
In the Eurozone, rate cut expectations from the European Central Bank (ECB) were also recently revised downwards, while in the United Kingdom, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England (BoE), Dave Ramsden said on Tuesday that inflationary pressures remained persistent in the country.
VALUES IN EUROPE
Bouygues climbed 8.0% with the increase in its current operating profit in 2023 and GTT (+8.89%) benefited from better than expected annual results.
Edenred, down 4.99%, suffered from a net profit below expectations, just like Eurofins Scientific (-6.65%), sanctioned after 2023 results considered disappointing, while (-7.62%) suffered from the announcement of the sale of Peugeot Invest’s stake in the group.
Puma, which said it expected a mixed first half of 2024, still weighed down by negative exchange rate effects, lost 4.06%.
British asset manager ABRDN fell 3.28% due to a drop in profit in 2023 and a warning on its margins.
Vodafone advanced 3.51%, sources having reported that the British operator might not have to carry the debt of the new entity, in the event of a merger with FastWeb in Italy, on its balance sheet, its participation being a minority.
TODAY’S INDICATORS
Consumer confidence in the United States unexpectedly deteriorated in February, to 106.7 points, shows the Conference Board’s monthly survey.
German consumer sentiment is expected to stabilize at a low level in March, at -29.0, as households face high uncertainty due to ever-rising prices and a weaker economic outlook, shows a survey published by the the GfK Institute and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM).
The household confidence index in France fell in February, to 89 points, according to the monthly INSEE survey.
Bank credit to businesses and households stagnated last month, indicating that economic recovery was still not underway in the European Union, according to data from the European Central Bank.
CHANGES
The dollar is stable (-0.02%) against a basket of reference currencies in a wait-and-see context.
The yen strengthened 0.14% to 150.48 per dollar after an inflation indicator in Japan reinforced the prospect of an end to negative rates by April.
The euro is trading at 1.0854 dollars (+0.06%) and the pound sterling at 1.2689 dollars (+0.06%).
RATE
Bond yields in the euro zone and the United States reacted little to the day’s statistics and the German ten-year ended up 2.5 basis points, at 2.465%.
That of American Treasury bonds of the same maturity was down 1.3 points, at 4.2914%.
OIL
Oil prices are rising in a context of uncertainty over a possible ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Brent rose 0.81% to $83.20 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) rose 1.06% to $78.40.
TO BE CONTINUED ON WEDNESDAY:
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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