(Photo: 123RF)
MARKET REVIEWS. The stock markets advance in disjointed order on Thursday, seeking direction after the meeting of the American Central Bank the day before, the flood of company publications and before the official American employment report on Friday.
Stock market indices at 7:45 a.m.
THE CAC 40 French fell by 0.7% at the start of the session in Europe. THE FTSE100 British added 0.4%. THE DAX German fell by less than 0.1%.
In New York, before the markets opened, the average Dow Jones industrial stocks rose by 0.4% and the broader index S&P 500 of 0.5%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.1% in Tokyo. The stock market of Shanghai was closed for a holiday. THE Hang Seng jumped 2.4% in Hong Kong. Sydney advanced by 0.2% and Seoul lost 0.3%.
On the New York Commodity Exchange, the price of oil added 58 US cents to US$79.58 per barrel.
The context
The markets are still digesting the meeting of the American Central Bank (Fed), which left its key rates unchanged. Despite the persistence of inflation and the signals sent indicating that a reduction in short-term key rates was not in the plans, “the Fed was careful not to let the market think that the next action would be anything other than that. nothing but a drop” explains John Lloyd, credit expert at Janus Henderson Investor.
On the bond market, government interest rates in Europe and the United States were falling.
Business results are also still numerous. Those from Apple will notably be published on Thursday after the stock market closes.
On Friday, the US jobs report will be the most anticipated event.
Banks collect
The results of banks in Europe were well received by investors: ING jumped 6.14% after announcing a new share buyback program of up to 2.5 billion euros.
The British bank Standard Chartered climbed 5.44% after publishing profits which jumped in the first quarter, driven by investment banking and wealth management in particular.
In Spain, Banco de Sabadell also gained 4.65% after her compatriot BBVA (-2.80%) announces its wish to merge with it, in an offer valuing it at 11.5 billion euros.
Yoyo of the yen
THE yen lost ground on Thursday against the dollar (-0.21% to 154.93 yen per US dollar), after rebounding strongly on Wednesday, analysts suspecting intervention by the Japanese authorities on the foreign exchange market to support the currency.
The yen soared on Wednesday, briefly gaining more than 3%, an even more impressive jump than that which took place on Monday.
This brutal movement took the Japanese currency up to 153.04 yen per dollar, before it fell to 154.57 yen per dollar at the end of the session. This still represents an increase of 2.08% over the day, a colossal variation for this market where daily fluctuations are often limited to a few tenths of a percentage point.
On Thursday, the currency first fell below 156 yen to the dollar before making up most of its losses.
Analysts suspect “a new series of interventions on the foreign exchange market” by the Japanese authorities, who traditionally do not communicate, and only provide information several days, or even several weeks later, according to Kit Juckes, analyst at Société Générale.
On other currencies, the euro fell 0.10% against the greenback, to US$1.070 per euro.
THE bitcoin advanced 1.74% to US$58,300, but remained down almost 9% over the week.
Oil bounces back a bit
Oil prices recovered after their fall the day before, with the market expecting that these lower price levels would encourage the United States to fill its strategic crude reserves.
The barrel of Brent was worth US$83.95 (+0.61%) and that of American WTI US$79.40 (+0.51%).
