Paris (awp/afp) – World stock markets were generally in negative territory on Wednesday, despite a first part of the session in the green in Europe, with concerns about the trajectory of inflation returning to the forefront before the publication of ‘an indicator Friday.
On the Old Continent, the Paris Stock Exchange returned 0.76%, London fell by 0.21% and Frankfurt by 0.19% around 12:00 GMT.
The session takes place in a calm schedule, with the market mainly awaiting the publication of an American inflation indicator (PCE) on Friday, before turning to the first round of the legislative elections in France on Sunday.
The American PCE inflation index, based on consumer spending, is the preferred measure of the American central bank (Fed) for judging price developments. It should stand at 2.6% year-on-year in May instead of 2.7% the month before, estimate analysts surveyed by MarketWatch.
This indicator is expected in a context where “sovereign bonds are under pressure after Tuesday’s publication of Canada’s inflation (CPI) in May”, underline Deutsche Bank analysts.
The publication “showed that inflation unexpectedly increased to +2.9%, compared to +2.6% expected,” they continued.
Another unpleasant surprise on the inflation side arrived in Australia during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, where the CPI index “reached its highest level this year”, above market expectations, add the analysts.
The market is also digesting comments from Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, quoted in the Financial Times, who said she remains “willing to raise” borrowing costs again “if progress on inflation is ‘stopped or even reversed’, that is to say whether the rise in prices stagnated or accelerated again.
In Japan, the yen fell 0.38% against the dollar, to 160.30 yen around 11:45 GMT, touching its lowest since 1986.
The fall of the yen revived the specter of a new intervention by the Japanese government on the foreign exchange market, after those of the end of April and the beginning of May, although some analysts believe that Tokyo will wait for the American PCE inflation index before any decision.
The dollar rose in the wake of Michelle Bowman’s comments: the greenback rose 0.30% against the single European currency, to 1.0683 dollars per euro.
On Wall Street, the futures contracts of the three main indices suggested a mixed opening: the Dow Jones lost 0.24%, the S&P 500 was rather stable (-0.05%), while the Nasdaq gained 0.09%.
On the bond market, the yield on 10-year US government bonds increased to 4.28% compared to 4.25% the day before at closing.
In Europe, the French 10-year rate was 3.20% compared to 3.16% at the close on Tuesday, that of Germany was at 2.44%, compared to 2.41%.
Volkswagen retrograde
Investors are perplexed after the announcement of the German automobile group Volkswagen (-2.67% in Frankfurt) Tuesday evening of a giant investment of 5 billion dollars (4.67 billion euros) to create a joint venture specializing in automotive software with the American electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian.
Other stocks in the automobile sector in Germany also fell: BMW lost 2.66%, Mercedes-Benz 0.93%.
DHL group benefits from the FedEx effect
The logistics and mail giant DHL Group (+0.84% in Frankfurt) benefits from the results of American rival FedEx published on Tuesday and which came out higher than expectations.
In electronic exchanges preceding the opening of the New York Stock Exchange, FedEx jumped +14.09%.
Oil on the rise
Oil prices were moving higher, driven by geopolitical risk in the Middle East and fears of a larger-scale war, but remained tempered by the first weekly figures on stocks in the United States.
Around 11:45 GMT, the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in August, rose 0.56% to 85.49 dollars and its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery the same month, advanced 0.68% to 81.38 dollars.
Bitcoin fell 0.93% to $61,338.
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