Making up for most of their losses at the start of the session, Paris finally lost 0.23%, Frankfurt 0.09% and London 0.25%. Milan closed up 0.31%.
Volatility remained high in global markets on Tuesday as Wall Street managed to support Western indices as a meeting of the US Federal Reserve began, while oil continued to fall.
At half mast on Monday, Wall Street rose vigorously: the Nasdaq technology index took 1.88%, the broader S&P 500 index 1.47% and the Dow Jones 1.32% around 5:25 p.m. GMT.
In Europe, the indices ended slightly lower, recovering most of their losses from the start of the session. Paris lost 0.23%, Frankfurt 0.09%, and London 0.25%. Milan rose 0.31%.
European markets were particularly driven in the morning by the fall in Chinese stocks. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange plunged by 5.72% and that of Shanghai by 4.95%, undermined by the announcement of new confinements, in particular in the technological capital Shenzhen.
These confinements in one of the main raw material importing countries had brutal consequences on the crude oil market: around 5.15 p.m. GMT, the price of a barrel of reference in the United States, the WTI, fell by 5.21% to 97.59 dollars and that of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May dropped 5.16% to 101.38 dollars, very far from their peak of last week.
Lower commodity prices “could reduce the strength of headwinds in the global economy,” including already very high inflation in the United States and Europe, said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.
The pace of inflation is at the heart of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) monetary policy meeting which began on Tuesday and whose conclusions will be released on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. GMT.
The Fed should raise its key rate to fight inflation, to the highest since 1982. After spending two years at a very low level of 0 to 0.25% to support the economy, they should experience a first hike, probably towards a range of 0.25 to 0.50%.
Wholesale price inflation in the United States (PPI index), published on Tuesday, remained stable over one year in February at 10% but slowed down over one month to +0.8%, surprising analysts.
After a sharp rise on Monday, interest rates on government bonds remained at a high level: 2.13% for the 10-year US loan.
However, investors remain very attentive to news on the war in Ukraine.
Russian and Ukrainian delegations resumed their talks on Tuesday, while Russian strikes are increasing on kyiv and the Russian offensive is spreading across the country.
The luxury touched
As China is one of the main markets for luxury companies, the authorities’ containment measures raise fears of a drop in revenues for the sector.
In Paris, LVMH lost 1.45% and Hermès 3.13%. In Zurich, Richemont dropped 3.39%. In Milan, Tod’s lost 2.64%, Salvatore Ferragamo 3.78%.
Separately, the European Union on Tuesday banned the export to Russia of its luxury sedans, champagne, jewelry and other items prized by the elites who support President Putin in order to punish their lavish lifestyle during the war in Ukraine. .
Air travel regains confidence, not airports
Major US airlines on Tuesday raised their revenue outlook for the current quarter and said strong demand for plane tickets was offsetting higher fuel prices.
American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, all of which reported stronger revenue growth ahead, climbed about 7%.
In Europe, the trend was less but EasyJet (+3.28%), IAG (parent company of British Airways, +1.04%) or Air France-KLM (+1.04%) progressed.
Conversely, the title of the operator of Frankfurt airport fell by 2.92%, after forecasts deemed disappointing for the current financial year. Aéroports de Paris lost 0.68%.
On the side of the euro and bitcoin
Around 5:10 p.m. GMT, the euro was trading at $1.0952, up 0.11%.
Bitcoin rose 1.16% to $39,175.