Paris (awp/afp) – World stock markets moved in a mixed order on Thursday, with investors showing caution before numerous political meetings and on the eve of the publication of an inflation indicator in the United States.
After starting the session in the green, most European stock markets fell into negative territory, following the pattern of the previous session. Around 1:50 p.m. GMT, Paris fell by 0.54%, London by 0.17% and Milan by 0.72%. Only Frankfurt was floating (+0.34%). In Zurich, the SMI (+0.20%) also started to rise again.
Wall Street opened in disarray. In early trading, the Dow Jones was stable (-0.04%), like the S&P 500 (+0.08%), while the Nasdaq gained 0.15%.
“Investors face multiple risks” both economic and political, “which prevents markets from gaining momentum,” said Deutsche Bank analysts.
On the political side, in Europe, it is time to wait before the legislative elections in France this weekend, while in the United States, the first debate for the presidential vote is being held on Thursday.
Before the publication of the first data on American inflation on Friday, several economic indicators were on the agenda from Thursday, notably in the United States with orders for durable goods in May and the final estimate of growth in the first quarter.
Growth in US gross domestic product (GDP) this quarter was revised slightly upwards, to 1.4%, according to the Commerce Department’s third estimate.
Durable goods orders for May came out better than expected, increasing 0.1% while analysts had forecast a decline of 1%.
“American rates relaxed a little after the publication” of durable goods orders for May, which were accompanied by a “strong revision of the previous month. These figures are in line with the American central bank (Fed), PCE inflation will have to follow the same path tomorrow (Friday),” commented Alexandre Baradez, chief analyst of IG France on the social network
The PCE price indicator in the United States, which will be published on Friday, is the most anticipated of the week since it is the most used by the Fed to calibrate its monetary policy.
On the bond market, the yield on 10-year US government bonds fell to 4.28% compared to 4.33% on Wednesday at the close.
In Europe, the French 10-year rate was worth 3.25% compared to 3.23% at the close on Tuesday, that of Germany was at 2.45%, like the day before.
Micron disappoints ___
The forecasts presented by the American giant Micron Technology disappointed investors. Its title dropped 3.70% in New York.
Kering reassessed ___
In Paris, the luxury company Kering soared above the CAC 40 (+4.75%) after several positive comments from analysts. Bank of America changed its recommendation from “sell” to “buy”, while UBS and Deutsche Bank maintained their positive view on the stock.
“Kering offers a compelling potential turnaround scenario with Gucci undergoing reinvention, combined with expansion into a number of adjacent divisions that are growing through acquisitions,” explains the German bank, which has marginally reduced its price target.
Shy rebound in the yen ___
The yen, which fell near the 160.90 yen mark per dollar, its lowest since 1986, struggled to rebound, even after comments from the Japanese authorities which fueled speculation about intervention.
Around 10:50 GMT, the Japanese currency rose slightly to be worth 160.51 yen (+0.18%) per dollar.
Previous interventions by the Japanese central bank this year, however, had a limited effect due to the large gap between the monetary tightening of major Western central banks and the accommodative policy of their Japanese counterpart.
Oil prices were rising, driven by geopolitical risk in the Middle East and fears of a larger-scale war, offsetting rising U.S. inventories and concerns about demand.
A barrel of Brent advanced 0.99% to $86.10 and that of WTI rose 0.90% to $81.63.
Bitcoin rose 1.27% to $61,730.
afp/rp
