The Paris Bourse is trying to rebound and Wall Street is on track to open slightly higher, while Ukraine says it is ready to resume talks with Russia, whose defense minister has announced that it has taken the port city of Kherson. The nearly 7% surge in oil prices is notably supporting European heavyweights in the sector such as TotalEnergies (+6%), Shell (+5.1%) or BP (+4.9%). The steelmaker ArcelorMittal progressed for its part by 3.9% while the contracts future on iron ore topped $150 a ton, a gain of around 10% in three days.
OPEC+ has agreed to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day, starting in April, according to a delegate from the expanded cartel quoted by Bloomberg. The barrel of Brent touched 113.02 dollars this morning, a new high of seven years, and this despite the decision of the member countries of the IEA (International Energy Agency) to draw 60 million barrels in their strategic stocks in an attempt to stem the surge in prices.
Around 2:30 p.m., the Bedroom 40 resumed 0.26% to 6,413.24 points in a business volume of 3.2 billion euros. In Frankfurt, the Dax yields 0.26%. Heavily weighted in companies focused on raw materials, the Footsie London rose by 0.70%. The contracts future on American indices gained around 0.5%. The day before the S&P 500 had entered the correction zone after a decline of 10.6% compared to its record at the beginning of January.
The market nevertheless continues to wonder about the economic impact of the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia, especially as natural gas prices reached a new record high at 194.71 euros on megawatt hour in Amsterdam. The surge in consumer prices at a record rate of 5.8% over one year in February in the euro zone confirms these fears.
In the United States, the private sector created 475,000 jobs in the non-agricultural sector in February, according to the survey carried out by ADP, or 100,000 more than anticipated by the market.
A fragile sign of the beginnings of interest in risky assets, the yield on the US 10-year bond rose 5 basis points to 1.7718%, while that of the German Bund of the same maturity oscillated around 0 %, against -0.06% last night.
A breath of fresh air for the banks, Vilmorin is plunging
Jerome Powell is due to speak from 4 p.m. before the House Financial Services Committee as part of the first part of his biannual hearing before Congress. He should signal that the Federal Reserve intends to begin the process of normalizing its monetary policy, but he should also exercise caution regarding the geopolitical environment. European and American investors believe that central banks should be pragmatic and patient in normalizing their monetary policy.
The slight rise in interest rates is giving the banks some breathing room. BNP Paribas thus recovered 1.7% after being reserved for the decline at the opening, while Societe Generalethe most exposed to Russia, appreciated by 2.3%.
On the other hand, the pressures of the French State on companies present in Russia weigh on Danone (-3.5%). Renault fell another 0.5%, bringing its fall to more than 18% over the week.
Schneider Electric goes up 3%. HSBC raised its recommendation on the stock from “hold” to “buy”.
bioMerieux 10% drop. The in vitro diagnostics specialist published 2021 accounts that beat its targets and analysts’ forecasts, but warned to expect a drop in its results this year, as demand linked to the coronavirus pandemic coronavirus is expected to decrease.
Finally, the seed Vilmorin plunged 12% the day after the publication of its turnover at the end of December, the opportunity for it to issue a “profit warning” on its 2021-2022 profits.