New York (awp/afp) – World stock markets ended generally up on Wednesday, in a rather calm and wait-and-see session before the publication of inflation in the United States which could influence the course favored by the American central bank (Fed) .
On Wall Street, Dow Jones (+1.03%) and the broader S&P 500 index (+0.71%) both set new closing records, while the Nasdaq index rose 0.60%. .
In Europe, the Paris Stock Exchange gained 0.52% at the close, Frankfurt gained 0.99%, London 0.65% and Milan 0.59%. In Zurich, the SMI gained 0.93%.
Stock markets are generally on the rise “while investors await US inflation figures”, comments Chris Beauchamp, analyst at IG.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September in the United States, published on Thursday, is now “at the center of attention”, notes Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Some hope that the inflation figures will be lower, which could encourage the American central bank (Fed) to reduce its interest rates” more significantly, she explains.
In the minutes of its latest meeting published Wednesday, the Fed judged that, given “the progress made on inflation” and recent indicators on employment, “participants agreed that it was appropriate to ‘relax monetary policy.’
The US Federal Reserve lowered its key rates by half a percentage point in September, and markets expect a quarter-point cut at the next meeting, scheduled for November 6-7, followed by a another of the same magnitude during the last meeting of the year, mid-December, according to the CME monitoring tool, FedWatch.
Falling inflation “would also push the dollar upwards,” underlines Mr. Beauchamp.
At the fixing, at 9:00 p.m. GMT, the American currency increased by 0.37% against the single European currency, to 1.0940 dollars per euro, close to its highest since mid-August.
The yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 4.07%, compared to 4.01% the day before at closing. At two years, it stands at 4.02% compared to 3.95%.
However, uncertainties surrounding China’s economic health are putting pressure on the markets. The Shanghai Stock Exchange ended its session on Wednesday with a decline of more than 6%.
Chinese authorities did not announce any new measures on Tuesday during a highly anticipated press conference. Faced with mistrust, they however indicated on Wednesday that the Minister of Finance would communicate this weekend on budgetary policy.
“There are doubts about the relevance of the measures that have been taken to revive the economy,” says Vincent Juvyns, member of the JPMorgan AM strategy team interviewed by AFP.
He also recalls that the markets are awaiting the start of the corporate results season, “particularly important”, because they will allow “to realize the state of health of the American economy”.
Google in the viewfinder ___
The American Department of Justice (DoJ) mentioned Tuesday evening a possible forced split of the group in a document sent to the federal judge responsible for defining the sentence which will be imposed on Google as part of its conviction for anti-competitive practices linked to its search engine.
“Technology stocks avoided an overly dramatic reaction to the announcement of a possible antitrust measure against Alphabet,” notes Chris Beauchamp, however, even if the parent company of Google lost 1.72% in New York .
The multiple legal proceedings targeting Alphabet and its subsidiary are increasingly handicapping the share price.
Oil is faltering ___
Oil prices fell again on Wednesday, depressed by the lull on the geopolitical front, the arrival of Hurricane Milton in the United States and doubts about demand.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in December dropped 0.78%, to $76.58.
A barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) due in November lost 0.45%, to $73.24.
For Andy Lipow, of Lipow Oil Associates, this new contraction in prices is due both to the absence, for the moment, of Israel’s response to Iran’s attack, but also to disappointment with the measures support from the Chinese authorities for their economy.
afp/rp
