File photo of London Stock Exchange Group premises in London
by Laetitia Volga
PARIS (Archyde.com) – European stock markets ended in the green on Monday and Wall Street was up sharply, as economic indicators released last week eased fears about the pace of monetary tightening by major central banks.
In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.68% to 6,907.36 points. The British Footsie advanced 0.33% and the German Dax 1.25%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index ended up 1.26%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.93% and the Stoxx 600 0.88%.
The Paris market finished at its highest since February and the Stoxx 600 at its highest level for eight months.
Signs of slowing inflation on both sides of the Atlantic have investors hoping that central banks will ease the pace of their rate hikes, which would allow for a soft landing for the economy.
Added to the considerations on the Fed is the reopening of the Chinese borders to travelers since Sunday, which bodes well for the prospects of the world’s second largest economy.
The week which begins will be animated successively by the first intervention of the year of the president of the Fed Tuesday, by the figures of consumer prices (Thursday) in the United States and by the beginning of the period of publication of results on Wall Street Friday with those of four of the major US banks.
At the time of the close in Europe, major Wall Street indexes were up 0.78% to 2.12%.
VALUES IN EUROPE
A large majority of European sector indices closed higher, led by the technology compartment, which gained 3.38%, its best performance in two months.
STMicroelectronics (+5.16%) posted the strongest growth in the CAC 40 and Atos (+7.80%) in the SBF 120 index.
Bayer took 2.59% after the capital increase of the activist investment fund Inclusive Capital Partners of Jeffrey Ubben up to 0.83% for around 407 million euros.
Down, Renault lost 1.54% after Citi was downgraded to “neutral”.
CHANGES
The dollar continues to slide, with Friday’s release of the monthly US jobs report and the contraction of the ISM services index fueling the prospect that the Fed will slow the pace of its rate hikes.
The greenback lost 0.81% against a basket of benchmark currencies.
The euro, at 1.0754 dollars, gained 1.03%, a seven-month peak.
The yuan, for its part, hit its highest since mid-August against the dollar, benefiting from optimism about China’s economic rebound.
RATES Yields on US government bonds are up after falling sharply last week: that of the ten-year US took around three basis points to 3.5137%.
In Europe, the ten-year German ended the day stable at 2.213%.
OIL
The oil market is rising as China’s decision to reopen its borders has eclipsed fears of a global recession.
Brent gained 1.58% to 79.81 dollars a barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.67% to 75 dollars.
(Laetitia Volga, edited by Sophie Louet)