by Augustin Turpin
(Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to rise slightly on Friday and the European stock markets are trading in disarray mid-session, with the markets catching their breath and consolidating after the recent record highs in the indices linked to central bank announcements.
Investors are now on the lookout for new statements following the meeting of European Central Bank governors scheduled for this Friday. New York index futures signal Wall Street opening up 0.12% for the Dow Jones, 0.11% for the Standard & Poor’s-500 and 0.04% for the Nasdaq. In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.26% to 8,158.6 around 11:30 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.13% and in London, the FTSE soared by 0.77%, outperforming other regional indices.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.05%, on track to record an eighth consecutive week of gains, while the FTSEurofirst 300 gained 0.03% and the Eurozone EuroStoxx 50 lost 0.37%.
LVMH, at the bottom of the CAC 40, fell 1.7% while the group announced Thursday evening that Antonio Belloni would leave his role as deputy CEO in April.
Generally speaking, the entire European luxury sector (-1.23%) is suffering in the wake of the declines in growth stocks.
Rate-sensitive technology stocks fell 1.27% after leading sector gains on Thursday, while the personal and household goods index was down 0.7%, weighed down by weakness in Chinese markets.
In the UK, retail sales data revealed month-on-month stagnation in February, despite the negative impact of bad weather on store sales, confirming signs of recovery in the economy after the slight recession of last year.
“The rebound in UK retail sales in January was short-lived, with February figures flat and down 0.4% on last year. This figure was slightly higher than expected economists, but overall it’s not a good sign for the UK economy,” said Michael Field, an analyst at Morningstar.
According to Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, forecasts of key rate cuts in the United Kingdom this year are not “unreasonable”.
“The fact that we have a curve that predicts reductions for the whole year is not unreasonable to me,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times (FT).
Across the Rhine, a survey by the Ifo institute showed that business morale improved in March, with the business climate index standing at 87.8, above expectations.
Investors await the final meeting of a data-heavy week, with ECB chief economist Philip Lane due to speak on inflation and monetary policy later today, while comments of President Christine Lagarde, who is participating at the same time in the euro summit in Brussels, will also be studied. VALUES TO FOLLOW AT WALL STREET
FedEx stock rose 12.4% in pre-market trading after revising its 2024 profit forecast on Thursday and reporting a 2.5% rise in operating margin at its main division , Express. That of its competitor UPS takes 3.5%.
VALUES IN EUROPE
The British insurer Phoenix Group jumped 10.2%, at the top of the STOXX 600, after declaring that it was targeting operating liquidity of 1.4 billion pounds (1.63 billion euros) and the reimbursement of 500 million debt books by 2026.
On the downside, JD Sports fell 5.55% after the turnover warning launched Thursday by Nike.
RATE
Bond yields in the euro zone are falling and heading towards a weekly decline, investors having been reassured by the various central bank meetings this week, and by comments suggesting interest rate cuts during the summer.
The German ten-year yield lost 2.9 basis points (bps) to 2.369%, while the two-year rate lost 2.6 bps to 2.8299%.
In the United States, the ten-year Treasury lost 2.8 bp to 4.2434%, and the two-year Treasury lost 1.7 bp to 4.6148%.
CHANGES
The greenback is heading for a second consecutive week of significant gains, with the lack of impact from recent decisions by the Japanese and Swiss central banks highlighting the gap between the Federal Reserve and global peers in setting interest rates .
The dollar advances (0.92%) against a basket of reference currencies, while the euro loses 0.36% to 1.0821 dollars.
OIL
Oil prices are stable, with the price of Brent holding above $85 per barrel, as the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza gains ground.
Brent rose 0.09% to $85.86 per barrel, with American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) increasing 0.12% to $81.17.
THE SITUATION ON THE MARKETS
(Some data may have a slight lag)
(Written by Augustin Turpin, edited by Sophie Louet)
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