New York (awp/afp) – World stock markets ended mixed on Friday, despite being satisfied with inflation figures in line with expectations in the United States and Europe, but the Paris Stock Exchange suffered again two days before the first round of legislative elections in France.
Wall Street, which opened in the green, closed down after a rise in bond rates: the Dow Jones lost 0.12%, the S&P 500 lost 0.41% and the Nasdaq lost 0.71%.
The last two indices tried to beat their record this year once again at the close.
Inflation slowed as expected in May in the United States, to 2.6% over a year, after 2.7% in April, according to the PCE index, favored by the American central bank (Fed).
These data reassure investors in their hope that the American Central Bank (Fed) will decide to lower its key rates from the start of the school year, because it is finally satisfied with the trajectory of prices.
“We know that the Fed needs several good reports in a row, but the situation is becoming increasingly favourable for a first rate cut,” said Christophe Boucher, chief investment officer of ABN Amro IS.
In Europe, the European Central Bank already made this choice in June, and inflation data for this month was slightly better than expected in France and in line with economists’ expectations for Spain.
Data for June in Germany are due on Monday and Tuesday for the eurozone.
But investors will probably be more focused on the first round of France’s legislative elections, which take place on Sunday and could see a clear lead for the far-right National Rally party, according to the latest polls.
Signs of tension multiplied during this session: the CAC 40 closed at its lowest level since January 25 at the end of its worst month in two years (-6.42%).
It fell 0.68% on Friday, while London only lost 0.19% and Frankfurt gained 0.14%. In Zurich, the SMI fell 0.09%.
On the rate side, the gap between the cost of borrowing for France and that of Germany has never been so high since 2012, exceeding the peak reached a few days after the dissolution of the National Assembly.
The French 10-year bond rate reached its highest level since November, and was moving at 3:35 p.m. GMT towards 3.29%, well above the German rate (2.48%), which is the benchmark in Europe.
Nike stumbles ___
The American sports equipment manufacturer Nike published, on Thursday, a turnover that was down and below expectations, marked in particular by the decline in its online sales and its activities in China. The brand has lowered its targets for its entire current financial year.
In New York, the stock collapsed by 19.98%, the worst session in its history, and dragged down JDSports (-4.23%) and Puma (-1.98%) in Europe.
Oil stalls ___
Oil prices ended close to equilibrium, after reaching their highest level in almost two months, with operators still wondering about the health of demand.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in August nibbled 0.02%, to close at $86.41.
A barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) of the same maturity lost 0.24%, to 81.54 dollars.
On the foreign exchange market, the single European currency advanced 0.06% against the greenback, to 1.0710 dollars.
Bitcoin fell 2.14% to $60,100.
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