PARIS (Reuters) – The trend on Wall Street looks slightly positive on Thursday and European stock markets changed little at mid-session, as investors continue to wonder about the impact of the health situation linked to COVID-19 in China on global economies and markets.
Futures contracts are signaling a gain of 0.23% for the Dow Jones, 0.45% for the Standard & Poor’s-500 and 0.68% for the Nasdaq.
The latter should benefit from a rebound in technology stocks, which suffered the day before the rise in US bond yields.
In Paris, the CAC 40 took 0.14% to 6,519.48 around 12:15 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.24% and in London, the FTSE dropped 0.15%.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.03%, the Eurozone EuroStoxx 50 rose 0.23% and the Stoxx 600 0.02%.
The explosion of COVID-19 cases in China with the lifting of health restrictions, in particular on travel, raises fears of the spread of the disease outside the country’s borders.
If the subject is the subject of discussions at European level, several countries including the United States, Japan, or Italy have already reinstated the obligation of a negative screening test for travelers from China.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote, says in a note that the reopening of China brings with it a double problem: on the one hand the risk of inflation accelerating with the revival of Chinese demand, which would lead to a more marked monetary tightening by central banks, and on the one hand the risk of an increase in COVID cases in the world with, logically, serious consequences for growth.
WALL STREET VALUES TO FOLLOW
VALUES IN EUROPE
The .SXTP> shows the biggest drop (-0.63%): the airline groups IAG, Air France-KLM, Ryanair and Lufthansa lose between 1.38% and 3.94%.
EXCHANGES/RATES
On the currency market, where volumes are also very low, the dollar lost 0.2% against other major currencies, including the euro, which rose in the same proportions to 1.0639.
On the bond side, the yield on the ten-year German Bund, the benchmark for the euro zone, is unchanged at 2.512% while its American equivalent, at 3.8788%, remains close to the six-week peak reached on Wednesday.
The variations could change with the publication at 1:30 p.m. GMT of the US unemployment claims figures.
OIL
The oil market is trending lower as the continued rise in COVID-19 cases in China may jeopardize the recovery in crude demand.
Brent lost 1.15% to 82.3 dollars a barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) lost 1.46% to 77.81 dollars.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by)