Bel20 has to give up profit | Beursduivel.be

(ABM FN)The Brussels stock exchange started the trading day positively after Donald Trump’s election victory, but had to give up all gains by the end of the day.

The Bel20 ended 0.6 percent lower at 4,240.76 points.

Despite quite a bit of company news, investors only had one thing in mind today and that was the American election results.

Trump secured his second term as US president with the additional comfort of a Senate majority. “Even a majority in the House remains potentially possible to facilitate the implementation of his political agenda,” we heard from a trader in the KBC market room.

In addition, it was particularly striking that Trump’s win pushed up interest rates in the US sharply. US interest rates are currently rising by 11 basis points on two-year paper and by 22 basis points on thirty-year government paper. “A resilient US economy could be pushed further to the limits of its capacity by growth-supportive fiscal and deregulatory policies, entailing an upward inflation risk,” said a KBC trader.

In this context, the Fed could sit back and choose to make fewer rate cuts or even halt them for the time being, although this is not currently the market expectation. “At this point, a 25 basis point cut tomorrow still seems safe. According to the market, a next step in December has a chance of about 65 percent. Only 50 basis points of cumulative easing is planned for next year,” KBC Economics said.

We see the opposite picture in Europe. The two-year interest rate fell by 9 basis points. “Markets apparently see a more domestically focused and isolationist US policy as a possible reason for the ECB to ease policy more aggressively,” KBC Economics thinks. “We doubt whether this is the ECB’s response function in a context of rising risk premia and a vulnerable euro.”

The oil price fell more than one percent after five consecutive days of increases. “In the medium term, a Trump victory could lead to lower oil prices due to trade policy and foreign policy,” ING said. In addition, oil inventories in the US appeared to have risen more than expected last week.

The euro/dollar was 1.8 percent lower at 1.0731. When the American stock markets closed on Tuesday, the figure was still 1.0927.

Risers and fallers

No fewer than 14 of the 20 shares in the Bel20 closed in the red. The leader was Lotus Bakeries with a price gain of 2.8 percent. UCB and Galapagos gained 1.6 and 2.2 percent. Jefferies increased the price target for UCB from EUR 185.00 to EUR 212.00 while maintaining the buy recommendation. Argenx became one percent more expensive.

Solvay countered this with a share price drop of 8.0 percent.

Solvay saw its results under pressure in the third quarter, but reiterated its outlook for the whole of 2024. However, Solvay now believes it will end up at the top end of the previously stated bandwidth of a decline in underlying EBITDA of 10 to 15 percent.

KBC Securities lowered the recommendation for Solvay from Buy to Accumulate with an unchanged price target of EUR 40.00. Degroof Petercam, on the other hand, increased the price target for Solvay from 36.00 to 39.00 euros while maintaining the Hold recommendation.

WDP lost 3.9 percent and Umicore lost 3.3 percent. As part of the strategic review of its Battery Materials activities, Umicore has decided to continue to pause the construction of a new battery materials factory in Loyalist, Canada. The strategic review will continue and further conclusions will be communicated no later than the upcoming investor day. Umicore also announced changes to its management board on Wednesday.

In BelMid, Tubize won 2.2 percent. This was offset by a loss of 5.7 percent for DEME. Trump’s victory is probably not good news for DEME. The construction of offshore wind capacity in the US is therefore at stake. Reason for KBC Securities to lower the price target.

Among the small caps, Jensen-Group recorded a gain of 6.4 percent in response to the quarterly report published on Tuesday evening. Jensen-Group saw sales and operating profit rise in the third quarter, while new orders grew by more than half.

Agfa and Hyloris lost 3.1 and 10.2 percent. Celyad’s cents share became 82.3 percent more expensive.

Wall Street

At the end of the European trading day, the S&P500 gained a significant 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq technology index 2.3 percent.

Door: ABM Financial News.

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Bron: ABM Financial News

ABM Financial News is a supplier of stock market news, video and data, both for real-time trading platforms and dealing rooms and for online and offline media publications. The information in this article is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments.