by Claude Chendjou
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets fell again on Friday, while on Wall Street the S&P-500 and the Nasdaq attempted a rebound late in the morning in New York after a series of mixed data in Europe and the States -United States, including the report on American employment.
In Paris, the CAC 40 ended down 0.40% at 7,420.69 points. The British Footsie lost 0.43% and the German Dax lost 0.14%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.23%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.2% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.27%.
Over the week as a whole, the CAC 40 lost 1.62% and the Stoxx 600 0.54%, the first weekly loss in eight weeks, mainly on profit-taking after the rally at the end of 2023.
At the close in Europe, the Standard & Poor’s 500 rebounded by 0.086% after three consecutive sessions in the red. The Nasdaq, supported by large technological capitalizations such as Amazon (+0.40%) and Nvidia (+2.19%), takes 0.13%. The Dow Jones fell 0.23%. The finance sector, up 0.40%, reached a one and a half year high during the session.
However, the S&P-500 and the Nasdaq are respectively heading towards their worst performance since the end of October and the end of September after nine consecutive weeks in the green on the basis of a rate cut by the American Federal Reserve (Fed) this year.
Main indicator of the week, the report from the American Department of Labor, which reported 216,000 non-agricultural job creations last month, a rate higher than consensus, did not provide clear elements on the scenario of a rapid decline in the cost of credit.
The unemployment rate in the United States remained stable in December, at 3.7% (compared to a consensus of 3.8%), and the increase in average hourly wages showed the same progression as in November (+0. 4%), mixed data that investors are trying to digest while awaiting US inflation figures next week.
In Europe, inflation figures showed an acceleration in prices to 2.9% year-on-year last month after +2.4% in November, which could ease pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to that it begins to reduce its interest rates.
VALUES IN EUROPE
On a sectoral level, real estate (-0.68%) suffered its biggest drop in one session for six weeks, while the banking sector (+0.72%) was sought after, reaching a new peak of almost five years.
European spirits groups fell as China’s Commerce Ministry announced the launch of an anti-competitive investigation into wine spirits, such as cognac, imported from the European Union.
Remy Cointreau fell by 11.99%, Pernod Ricard by 3.57% and Diageo by 1.54%.
Sodexo gained 0.68% after publishing quarterly sales in line with expectations.
German biotechnology company Evotec rebounded 2.57% after an 18% plunge on Thursday following the announcement of the surprise departure of its chairman of the board.
CHANGES
The dollar returned from a three-week high, dropping 0.02% against a basket of benchmark currencies, as ISM data showed that the US services sector slowed significantly in December, the employment rate having fallen to its lowest level in almost three and a half years.
The euro gained 0.01% to 1.0944 dollars and the pound sterling gained 0.33% to 1.2721 dollars.
RATE
The US employment report accelerated the stress in the bond compartment in Europe where the ten-year German Bund yield climbed 9.5 basis points, to 2.211%, to reach a peak since December 13, before to limit its closing gains to four points, at 2.164%.
In the United States, the yield on Treasuries of the same maturity is stable at the close of the stock markets in Europe, at 4.0211%, but it fluctuated during the session to a peak of 4.103%.
While investors struggle to interpret the US employment report, money markets now expect with a probability of only 57% a reduction in the cost of credit of at least 25 basis points in March, compared to a probability of 65 % before the publication of this statistic.
OIL
Oil prices are rising sharply as American Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares to begin a tour of the Middle East in an attempt to contain regional tensions arising from the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Both oil benchmarks are on track to end the first week of the year higher.
The barrel of Brent rose 1.78% to $78.97 and that of American light crude (WTI) rose 2.41% to $73.93.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Zhifan Liu)
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