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 attempted to break their record once again this year 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 reinforce investors’ hopes 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 price trajectory.
“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 is expected on Monday and Tuesday for the euro zone.
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 rate of the French 10-year loan reached its highest level since November, and was moving at 3.29% at 3:35 p.m. GMT, well above the German rate (2.48%), which is the benchmark in Europe.
Nike stumbles ___
American sportswear maker Nike reported a lower-than-expected revenue on Thursday, driven by a decline in online sales and its business in China. The brand lowered its targets for the full year.
In New York, the title 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 hitting their highest level in nearly two months, with traders still questioning the health of demand.
The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent crude for delivery in August edged up 0.02% to close at $86.41.
The barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) of the same maturity fell by 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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