by Laetitia Volga
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to rise moderately on Tuesday, in a market driven by both Chinese growth figures and the publication of company results.
Futures contracts on indices give an increase of 0.13% for the CAC 40 in Paris and for the FTSE in London, 0.16% for the Dax in Frankfurt and 0.14% for the EuroStoxx 50.
With the lifting of health restrictions in December in China, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.5% at an annual rate in the first three months of the year, above the Reuters consensus which gave it an increase. by 4.0%.
At the same time, retail sales did better than expected in March at +10.6%, but industrial production came in a little below expectations and real estate investment fell by 5.8% in the first quarter.
This contrasting data offers little support for Chinese stock markets where the SSE Shanghai index and the CSI 300 gained less than 0.3%.
“While fears of a weak rebound are dispelled, the stats don’t show a strong recovery either,” said Tao Chuan, at Soochow Securities.
The trend in Europe should mark a pause after a series of several positive sessions, which allowed the CAC 40 to reach historic highs, and pending the publication of company results in the coming days.
On Wall Street, the quarterly accounts of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson and Netflix are expected on Tuesday.
VALUES TO FOLLOW:
AT WALL STREET
The New York Stock Exchange ended slightly higher on Monday, led by financials and industrials, as investors favored caution before a wave of results and comments from Fed officials could give an indication of monetary tightening.
The Dow Jones Index gained 0.30%, or 100.71 points, to 33,987.18 points, the S&P-500 gained 13.68 points, or 0.33%, to 4,151.32 points and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 34.26 points (0.28%) to 12,157.72 points.
While several major US banks released strong results last week, markets are waiting to gauge the health of S&P-500 companies and the state of the economy.
S&P-500 earnings are expected to be down 4.8% year on year in the first quarter, according to Refinitiv.
On the value side, note the 2.7% decline in Alphabet as it was reported that Samsung plans to replace Google with Microsoft-owned Bing on its devices.
IN ASIA
Ending up for an eighth consecutive session, the Japanese Nikkei gained 0.51%, driven by banks and export-oriented stocks.
The index is on its longest streak of gains since March 2022 and is trading more than 3% above its 25-day moving average.
EXCHANGES/RATES
The dollar is stable against a basket of currencies after appreciating the day before in reaction to US statistics which reinforced expectations of a rate hike by the Fed in May.
The euro is trading at 1.0945 dollars, up 0.17%.
The pound increased its gains after the National Statistics Office announced a surprise acceleration in wage growth to 5.9% over a three-month period to the end of February, which could influence the Bank of England in its policy on interest rates. The increase in wages over November-January has also been revised to 5.9%, against +5.7%.
On the bond market, the yield of ten-year Treasuries, at 3.5927%, remains close to the two-week peak hit on Monday at 3.608%. Its German equivalent is unchanged at 2.484%.
OIL
After falling 2% on Monday, oil prices are rising. Stronger economic data from China, the world’s largest rough importer, is supporting the demand outlook.
Brent gained 0.4% to 85.1 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) advanced 0.32% to 81.09 dollars.
(edited by Matthieu Protard and Blandine Hénault)
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