A ‘Place de la Bourse’ sign is visible in front of the Palais Brongniart, former Paris Stock Exchange
by Claude Chendjou
The main European stock markets are expected to rise on Friday in the wake of Wall Street, with the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States and the reduction in key rates from the American Federal Reserve likely to continue to fuel enthusiasm. investors.
According to the first available indications, the Parisian CAC 40 should gain 0.23% at opening. The Dax in Frankfurt could advance 0.20%, while the FTSE 100 in London should gain 0.23%. The EuroStoxx 50 index is expected to increase by 0.19% and the Stoxx 600 to increase by 0.16%.
American markets are at record levels since the victory on Wednesday of Donald Trump who promised tax cuts and deregulation of the economy, measures considered favorable to businesses.
The Fed, for its part, as expected, lowered its key rates by 25 basis points on Thursday and suggested that the cycle of monetary easing initiated since September would continue, which supports risky assets.
In fact, US Treasury yields hit new lows in the first hours of trading in Asia on Friday, keeping the dollar under pressure after its sharp decline on Thursday, with the greenback falling to a six-week low in the face of a basket of reference currencies.
For the last session of the week, in the absence of new catalysts, apart from company results, the stock market euphoria should continue.
A WALL STREET
The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Thursday with the exception of the Dow Jones, still supported by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election while the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate cut caused yields to fall bondholders.
The Dow Jones index finished stable, eroding 0.59 points to 43,729.34 points. The decline of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan after their big gains on Wednesday weighed on the index. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 44.06 points, or 0.74%, to 5,973.10 points. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 285.99 points, or 1.51%, to 19,269.459 points.
In terms of values, Warner Bros Discovery jumped 11.8% after publishing figures much better than expected, which supported the communications sector, the best sectoral performance of the S&P 500.
IN ASIA
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as the close approaches, the Nikkei index advances 0.37% to 39,526.19 points, driven by large stocks such as SoftBank Group (+2.46%) and Fast Retailing (+ 1.17%). The broader Topix nibbles 0.05% to 2,745.03 points.
The MSCI index bringing together stocks from Asia and the Pacific (excluding Japan) is heading towards a weekly gain of 3.1% after recovering quickly from an initial drop on the evening of the American elections. The outcome of this election had raised concerns about a possible trade war, particularly with China.
In China, the Shanghai SSE Composite fell by 0.10% and the CSI 300 fell by 0.41%. The indices, up more than 5% over the whole week, are however on the verge of recording their best weekly performance in a month, following the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Assembly (APN ).
VALUES TO FOLLOW IN EUROPE:
EXCHANGES/RATES
The dollar rose 0.11% on Friday against a basket of reference currencies, on track to end the whole week in green.
The euro fell 0.27%, to 1.0775 dollars.
The pound sterling traded at $1.2963 (-0.18%) the day after a 25 basis point rate cut from the Bank of England (BoE).
The yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds was stable on Friday, at 4.339%, after a decline of 8.9 basis points the day before in the wake of the Fed’s decision.
OIL
The oil market fell on Friday as the risk of Hurricane Rafael in the Gulf of Mexico significantly affecting US oil and gas production diminished.
Brent fell by 0.52% to $75.23 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) by 0.64% to $71.9.
The two benchmark indices had increased by almost 1% on Thursday and could end the whole week with gains of 3.1% and 4.1% respectively.
(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
