Paris (AFP) – Global stock markets suffered Thursday in reaction to the new course of monetary policy, stricter, described by the chairman of the American Federal Reserve Jerome Powell.
Asia rocked sharply: the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 3.11%. Chinese stock markets also ended largely in the red (Shanghai -1.78% and Hong Kong -1.99%)
Europe fell significantly in the first exchanges: Paris by 0.66%, Frankfurt by 1.35% and Milan by 0.65%. London resisted better (-0.02%) around 09:00 GMT.
On Wednesday, Wall Street indices made the roller coaster, with the Nasdaq technology index gaining more than 3% in a session to end the balance (+ 0.02%).
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed that the institution was planning a key rate hike in March to fight inflation, which reached 7% in the United States in 2021, without specifying the extent of the planned increase. .
And the Fed is also ready to reduce “earlier” and “perhaps faster” than after the 2008 crisis, its balance sheet, inflated by two years of asset purchases, according to its president.
“It seems the recent market rout hasn’t cooled Powell and Fed members, meaning they’re ready to take further losses on the equity front to keep inflation under control,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya said. , Swissquote analyst.
In response to Mr. Powell’s speech, rates on the US bond market rose. They remained Thursday morning at 1.84% for the 10-year.
Equity markets are under other pressures, such as rising oil prices, with Brent rising above $90 a barrel on Wednesday, a first since 2014, boosted by geopolitical tensions.
Haro sur la tech
The Fed’s new monetary policy, signifying the end of very cheap money, particularly penalized the technology sector, which developed strongly under these conditions.
The action of the Japanese giant in SoftBank Group investments in particular suffered the blow, unscrewing from 8.99% to 4,692 yen.
In Frankfurt, the German software giant SAP plunged 8.16% to 108.20 euros, after announcing Thursday the acquisition of the American fintech Taulia. SAP also confirmed its preliminary results for 2021 and its objectives for the current year.
In Paris, Dassault Systèmes lost 3.19% to 40.87 euros and Capgemini 2.22% to 189.10 euros.
Banks appreciate the rise in interest rates
The banking sector was well oriented, against the indices, benefiting from the prospects of rate hikes with the policy of the Fed.
Investors also welcomed Deutsche Bank’s best annual net result for 10 years and the concomitant announcement of a return of the dividend after two years of freeze as well as a share buyback program, for a total of 700 million euros (3.01% to 11.76 euros).
HSBC took 2.01% to 533.20 pence, Standard Chartered 4.16% to 545.80 pence in London and BNP Paribas 1.47% to 64.94 euros in Paris.
Break on oil, the dollar rises against the euro
The day after a very dynamic session, oil fell a little: around 08:45 GMT, the price of a barrel of American WTI for March delivery fell 0.10% to 87.26 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea at the same maturity fell 0.11% to 89.86 dollars. They had hit $87.95 and $90.47 respectively on Wednesday.
The euro fell further, worth $1.1199 (-0.37%) around 9:50 a.m., close to its 2020 lows, ($1.1186 at the end of November).
Bitcoin, on the rebound since the start of the week after heavy losses, climbed 0.10% to 36,400 dollars.
© 2022 AFP