The Paris Stock Exchange lost ground on Monday, erasing part of its Friday rebound. The euro is hovering around its lowest levels for 20 years, weighed down by the risk of an energy crisis in Europe, itself fueled by the postponement sine die the resumption of Russian gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, initially scheduled for Saturday. Futures contracts on the Dutch TTF, a benchmark for gas prices in Europe, soared 31% to 278.50 euros per megawatt hour this morning, their biggest rise since March, thus approaching the historic peak reached at more of 340 euros a little less than two weeks ago.
At the close, the Cac 40 lost 1.20% to 6,093.22 points, after a floor at 6,018.02 (-2.42%), in a business volume of 2.55 billion euros. The flagship index could not count on any help from Wal Street, the American markets being closed on Monday for Labor Day, a holiday in the United States.
The market also had to digest the decline in activity in services in the euro zone last month, the PMI index established by S&P Global falling by 1.4 points to 49.8, its lowest level for 17 months. A figure below 50 reflects a contraction in activity. Chris Williamson, Chief Economist of S&P Global, notes that: “ Testifying to the continuing very strong inflationary pressures in the region, the prices paid and invoiced by companies continue to increase at rates never reached before the pandemic. The decline in inflation rates continued in August, however, suggesting that they may have leveled off. »
New restriction measures in China
The intensification of the energy crisis with the approach of winter is weakening the economies of the euro zone, prompting several countries, including Germany, to adopt new anti-inflation measures. ” Economies have braced themselves for energy constraints and the prospect of rationing, but it is clear that compared to expectations at the start of the year, the current development looks like the worst of developments.summarizes Wei Li, strategist at BlackRock, on Bloomberg TV. So, as we head into the end of the year, underweighting equities in such an environment seems appropriate. “, he adds. This crisis comes at a time when soaring consumer prices make it almost inevitable that the European Central Bank will rise by 75 basis points on Thursday, despite the deterioration in the economic outlook.
Meeting by videoconference on Monday, the OPEC + ministerial monitoring committee recommended a reduction in its production target of 100,000 barrels per day from October, according to delegates quoted by Bloomberg and Reuters. The barrel of Brent from the North Sea is coming back close to 96 dollars a barrel. TotalEnergies gained 3.1% and Vallourec 1.7%. Conversely, the automotive sector is particularly weak. Faurecia and Valeo fell 8.9% and 8.2% respectively, as containment measures were imposed in Shenzhen, where both groups have R&D centers, while health restriction measures were extended in the industrial hub from Chengdu. Renault and Stellantis fell by 5.4% and 4.8%.