FRANCE: GROWTH AT 7.0% IN 2021, THE HIGHEST SINCE 1969
by Blandine Henault
PARIS (Archyde.com) – The main European stock markets are expected on a cautious note at the opening on Friday, at the end of a week marked by high volatility against a backdrop of monetary policy announcements in the United States and a rise in rate of publication of company results.
Futures contracts point to a 0.11% drop for the Dax in Frankfurt but a gain of 0.2% for the FTSE in London and 0.12% for the EuroStoxx 50.
The first indications available also give the Parisian CAC 40 up 0.42% at the opening.
European indices ended in the green on Thursday for the third day in a row but that masks significant swings in recent sessions as investors worried about geopolitical tensions around Ukraine and the more restrictive than expected bias adopted by the Federal Reserve. The results of companies and economic indicators deemed favorable have, however, supported the trend.
France’s GDP grew by 7% in 2021, higher than official forecasts and the strongest since 1969. Investors will also follow the publication of the first estimate of Germany’s GDP (9:00 GMT) before that of the PCE price index in the United States at 13:30 GMT.
The Parisian market and the whole of the luxury sector in Europe could be animated by the publication of LVMH, which said Thursday evening to expect continued strong growth this year after having benefited from an acceleration in the rise of its sales in the fourth quarter of last year.
A WALL STREET
The New York Stock Exchange ended in the red on Thursday after a midday reversal that illustrated renewed volatility in financial markets.
The Dow Jones resisted the best and fell only 0.02% to 34,160.78 points. The S&P-500 lost 0.54% to 4,326.5 points and the Nasdaq Composite fell more sharply by 1.40% to 13,352.78 points.
Futures on all three indices are signaling a rebound on Friday at the open.
At stocks, Apple was climbing in electronic trading after the close in response to the release of better-than-expected revenue and net profit for the October-December quarter last year.
IN ASIA
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei index ended up 2.09%, after ending the day before at its lowest in 14 weeks, but fell 2.92% over the week, its biggest weekly decline. marked since the end of November and its fourth consecutive week in the red.
In China, the stock markets erased their gains after having initially rebounded following the sharp decline marked the day before in reaction to the Fed’s monetary policy decisions.
The CSI 300 fell 0.29% and the composite index of the Shanghai Stock Exchange lost 0.17%.
EXCHANGES/RATES
The dollar lost some ground after benefiting greatly this week from the renewed risk aversion and the Fed’s restrictive bias. It currently shows a weekly gain of 1.55% against a basket of benchmark currencies and 1.6% against the euro.
The single currency is moving at 1.1151 after hitting a low since June 2020 the day before, at 1.1130.
On the bond market, the yield on ten-year Treasuries stands at 1.8158% against a peak of 1.88% on Wednesday, just after the Fed’s announcements.
OIL
Crude prices are heading for their sixth consecutive week of gains as they take advantage of supply fears ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on Wednesday.
The barrel of WTI advanced 0.59% to 89.87 dollars and that of American light crude (WTI) gained 0.66% to 87.18 dollars.
(edited by Marc Angrand)