EUROPE FINISHES IN THE GREEN, XI-BIDEN INTERVIEW ON UKRAINE REASSURES
by Claude Chendjou
PARIS (Archyde.com) – European stock markets ended in the green on Friday after a volatile session and Wall Street was also moving on a positive note at midday, as optimism finally prevailed over the Ukrainian file at the end of the day. the outcome of the meeting between the American and Chinese presidents when the equity markets recorded a sharp rebound over the whole of the week.
In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a gain of 0.12% to 6,620.24 points. The British Footsie gained 0.28% and the German Dax 0.17%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index advanced 0.21%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.71% and the Stoxx 600 0.74%.
For the week as a whole, the Parisian index advanced 5.75%, while the pan-European Stoxx 600 took 5.43%, their largest weekly gains since the week of March 27, 2020.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Joe Biden reassures his US counterpart that war in Ukraine is “not in anyone’s interest”, according to comments reported by Chinese state television . He also invited the head of the White House to put bilateral relations between Beijing and Washington “on the right track”.
The session was marked by volatility due in particular to the “day of the three witches”, which corresponds to the expiry of several options and futures contracts. Markets also struggled to digest the latest announcements from the US Federal Reserve, as James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis branch, deemed it necessary on Friday to raise the central bank’s main key rate to more than 3. % this year in the face of galloping inflation.
VALUES IN EUROPE
On the pan-European Stoxx 600, high tech (+2.3%) finished first and, on the other hand, energy (-0.71%) posted the biggest drop, with oil prices heading towards a second consecutive week of decline in a volatile market.
TotalEnergies, BP and Eni lost 1.5%, 1.1% and 3.5% respectively, while Capgemini and ASML gained 1.9% and 3.4% respectively.
In business news, Michelin ended in the red after reporting a fragile market improvement in February ahead of the Ukraine crisis, while TF1 fell 2.6% after news of an in-depth review on the planned merger of the channel with M6 (-1.9%).
On the upside, EDF took 1.6% despite the announcement of the launch of a capital increase of 3.1 billion euros, but the latest statements by Emmanuel Macron have fueled speculation in favor of a nationalization of the group..
A WALL STREET
At the time of the close in Europe, the Dow Jones was almost stable, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq 1.3%, the indices being driven in particular by cheap purchases of technology stocks , whose sector compartment advanced by 1.3%. Nvidia, Tesla and Apple gain 1.3% to 5.5%.
“The bottom has been reached and the technology has fallen so far from its highs that it is attracting investors looking for opportunities,” said Rick Meckler of Cherry Lane Investments.
On the downside, the logistics group Fedex (-5.1%) and the video game distributor Gamestop (-3.6%) suffered from their quarterly results.
Boeing (+1.1%) is buoyed by a potential order for 100 737 MAX from Delta Air Lines, while Moderna (+4.1%) could see its COVID-19 vaccine extended to the United States to all adults as part of a second booster injection.
CHANGES
The dollar appreciated by 0.22% against a basket of major currencies, in a context of cautious markets.
The euro was down 0.23% on Friday at $1.1066 but headed for its best weekly performance in six weeks as traders were relieved that Russia appears to have avoided a default so far. .
RATE
Bond yields, which had benefited from significant increases in recent sessions, are falling. That of ten-year US Treasury bonds fell 3.7 basis points to 2.1548%, but the two-year bond, the most sensitive to changes in rates, gained one point to 1.905%.
In Europe, the ten-year German Bund yield ended down 2.5 points at 0.3670%, moving away from the November 2018 peak hit on Thursday at 0.41%. Its French equivalent of the same maturity fell 1.6 points to 0.8260%.
OIL
The oil market, which hit a nearly 14-year high two weeks ago, is volatile, struggling to find direction amid uncertainty over the outcome of Ukraine talks.
At the close of trading in Europe, Brent crude, which had jumped 9% on Thursday, its biggest rise since mid-2020, rose 0.49% to 107.16 dollars a barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI), which had gained 8% the day before, advanced 1.13% to 104.17 dollars.
The two oil benchmarks could, however, show their second consecutive weekly decline over the whole week.
(Report Claude Chendjou, edited by Jean-Michel Bélot)