“Global Markets Struggle Ahead of Major Bank Meetings and Auto Sector Pricing Policy”

2023-04-20 13:33:15

(Photo: Getty Images)

MARKET REVIEWS. Global markets were struggling on Thursday on the risks to economic growth ahead of major bank meetings, while worrying about pricing policy in the auto sector.

Stock indices at 8:00 a.m.

The futures contracts Dow Jones posted a decline of 161.00 points (-0.47%) to 33,872.00 points. The futures contracts S&P 500 fell by 28.25 points (-0.68%) to 4,150.25 points. The futures contracts Nasdaq yielded 122.50 points (-0.93%) to 13,060.50 points.

In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 11.27 points (-0.14%) to 7,887.50 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 29.94 points (-0.40%) to 7,519.50 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX lost 123.02 points (-0.77%) to 15,772.18 points.

In Asia, the Nikkei Tokyo rose 50.81 points (+0.18%) to 28,657.57 points. For his part, the Hang Seng Hong Kong rose 29.21 points (+0.14%) to 20,396.97 points.

On the oil side, the price per barrel of American WTI retreated US$1.19 (-1.50%) to US$77.97. The barrel of North Sea Brent was down US$1.21 (-1.46%) at US$81.91.

The context

Wall Street was poised to follow the bearish move, according to futures contracts for the three major indices.

“Hope for a soft landing orchestrated by the Federal Reserve, which had supported the markets in January, faded in March with the emergence of cracks in the banking system,” according to a JP Morgan analysis of the second quarter.

“These cracks may well end the cycle of rising rates, but with tighter lending conditions taking over to tighten financial conditions, there is little hope of an easing in policy. currency comes to support the asset markets”, according to this commentary.

According to the “Beige Book”, which brings together all the surveys carried out by the twelve regional offices of the Fed, the volumes of loans granted by banks in the United States “decreased” in March and the beginning of April, that is to say since the banking crisis caused by the bankruptcy of the SVB bank.

In the report of the last monetary meeting of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) in March, the economists of the institution also estimated that the recent banking difficulties “could lead to a slight recession” this year in the United States.

Lately the markets have shown optimism, estimating that a more pronounced decline in inflation would allow the central banks and above all the Fed not only to stop raising its key rates after the next meeting in May, but also to lower them by the end of the year.

Although inflation is decelerating in the euro zone as in the United States, it remains at a level still considered too high.

Investors were flabbergasted on Wednesday by the level of inflation in the United Kingdom which remained above 10% in March, which encouraged the Bank of England to continue on the path of monetary tightening.

Investors are also anticipating further interest rate hikes from the US and European central banks at their upcoming meetings in May.

They also seem uninspired by the results of American companies so far mixed.

“We’ll see what happens when we start really collecting regional bank results next week,” said Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors.

Nokia sounds the alarm

The Finnish telecom equipment giant Nokia announced Thursday that it sees signs of a brake on its markets, after a first quarter marked by rising profits, but below expectations. The action lost more than 6% in Helsinki.

The automotive sector is slipping

After Teslasanctioned the day before due to a further drop in the prices of its electric vehicles, the manufacturer Renault was the red lantern of the sector: the action fell 7.06% to 34.03 euros in Paris, concerns related to the pricing strategy offsetting its sales performance in the first quarter. In its wake, Stellar fell by 4.90%, Porsche of 3.44%, Volkswagen 2,92%, BMW 2,76%, Ferrari of 2.24%.

On the side of currencies and oil

The American dollar stabilized Thursday against the euro, analysts focusing on speeches by members of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) before a period of silence that will begin Saturday approaching their meeting.

The greenback was down 0.08% at US$1.0964 per euro.

Oil prices continue to fall, amid concerns about growth and demand for crude.

The barrel of North Sea Brent for June delivery slid 1.67% to US$81.73.

Its American equivalent, the baril de West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for May delivery, of which it is the last trading day, fell 1.82% to US$77.72

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