EUROPEAN STOCK EXCHANGES ENDED WITHOUT MAJOR CHANGE ON MONDAY
by Laetitia Volga
PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended without much change on Monday, the return of concerns about the Chinese economy impacting investors’ appetite for risky assets as well as oil prices.
After a yo-yo session, the CAC 40 in Paris took 0.25% to 6,569.95 points. The British Footsie gained 0.11% and the German Dax 0.15%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index ended up 0.34%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.31% and the Stoxx 600 0.34%.
At the time of the close in Europe, the three major Wall Street indices were erasing their losses to move around balance.
Global markets are being held back by a series of Chinese data that showed economic activity slowed last month, underscoring the scale of the economic challenge facing authorities in Beijing and prompting the People’s Bank of China to cut significantly two of its main key rates unexpectedly.
For analysts at Nomura, this support could be “too weak, too late and ineffective”.
“We believe China’s growth in the second half will be significantly hampered by its zero-COVID strategy, the deterioration of the real estate sector and a likely slowdown in export growth,” they said in a note.
For investors, one of the main economic events of the week will be the publication on Wednesday of retail sales in the United States and the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reserve.
As earnings season draws to a close, they’ll also be tracking quarterly releases from a few major US retailers, including Walmart on Tuesday and Target on Wednesday.
OIL
Oil prices fell sharply as signs of an economic slowdown in China fueled fears of recession.
Brent lost 3.95% to 94.27 dollars a barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 4.02% to 88.39 dollars.
The market also expects by midnight Iran’s response to the European Union’s proposal to relaunch talks to save the 2015 nuclear deal, which could increase global supply.
VALUES
With concerns about the growth of the Chinese economy, the commodities sector (-1.62%) posted the largest decline of the day, ahead of the oil compartment (-1.31%).
Red lantern of the CAC 40, TotalEnergies dropped 2.35%. ArcelorMittal lost 1.31%. In London, Shell and Rio Tinto lost 1.49% and 2.24% respectively.
On the rise, HelloFresh gained 2.66% after confirming its medium-term targets and saying it was “cautiously optimistic” for the second half and Henkel gained 0.52% after raising its revenue growth target from annual business.
The pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca advanced 2.33% after announcing that a trial confirmed the benefit of the drug Enhertu, developed with the Japanese Daiichi Sankyo, in patients with an advanced form of breast cancer and previously treated with another treatment.
THE INDICATORS OF THE DAY
In the United States, the NAHB/Wells Fargo index, which measures the sentiment of real estate developers, fell to 49 in August, its lowest level since the health crisis, due to rising construction costs and mortgage rates. .
Manufacturing activity in the New York area deteriorated sharply this month to fall into contraction territory, at -31.3.
CHANGES
On the foreign exchange market, economic indicators below expectations benefit the dollar, up 0.59% against a basket of reference currencies.
The euro fell to $1.0187, close to a one-week low reached earlier at 1.0179.
RATE
Eurozone government bond yields fell as investors worried about a possible recession after Chinese data and amid fears for the German economy in the event of gas rationing this winter.
The ten-year Bund yield fell nine basis points to 0.903%.
Its American equivalent drops more than seven points to 2.777%.
(Written by Laetitia Volga, edited by Camille Raynaud)