Paris fell by 4.97% to 6061.66 points, Frankfurt by 4.41% and Milan by 6.24%, completing their worst session and their worst week since the announcement of the first confinement in March 2020. , they lose more than 10% each.
London, more resilient since the start of the year, dropped 3.48% on the day.
The New York Stock Exchange fell more modestly, the American economy being less exposed to Russia: the Dow Jones lost 0.53%, the NASDAQ dropped 1.66% and the S&P 500, 0.79%.
Another sign of weakness in Europe, the single currency lost 1.36% to 1.0915 dollars around 8:25 p.m. GMT (9:25 p.m. in Paris) after falling to 1.0886 dollars, a level not seen since the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago.
Toronto Against the Tide
Supported by the rise in commodity prices, the Toronto Stock Exchange for its part ended the week by recording an increase of 0.72% (152.02 points). Prices for crude oil, gold, copper, nickel, steel, aluminum and agriculture have all jumped on fears that sanctions will hurt supplies from Russia.
The Russian army occupied the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye (south) on Fridaythe largest in Europe, where overnight bombings raised fears of a disaster.
Putin is increasingly desperate to secure a victory in the face of numerous setbacks and there are few signs that he is inclined to back down
analyse Michael Hewson, de CMC Markets.
Faced with this stalemate in the conflict, investors increasingly fear the risks of recession and escalation
commented Craig Erlam, analyst at Oanda.
« The market anticipates that corporate earnings will fall, it is now integrating elements of recession. »
Safe havens remained at high levels: an ounce of gold moved to 1965 dollars (+1.48%). The 10-year US government bond fell to 1.73% from 1.84% Thursday at the close. The German 10-year rate, which is a reference in Europe, went back into negative territory (-0.08% against +0.02% the day before at the close).
Investors ignored the latest US job market data, which came in above analysts’ expectations.
For the market, these are indicators of the past that have almost no meaning given the current context.
explains Mr. Baradez.
oil flies away
After a slight one-day respite, oil prices started to rise again on Friday.
The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May closed at 118.11 dollars, a level that it had not reached since August 2008, galvanized by the de facto cessation of Russian exports.
In New York, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) with maturity in April, jumped 7.43% on Friday, to end at 115.68 dollars, a first since September 2008.
Fear of disruptions to exports from Russia, which provides 40% of European gas imports, pushed Europe’s market benchmark, the Dutch TTF, to a new record high of 213.895 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
Wheat and maize also broke records on the European market, Ukraine being a central country in the supply of agricultural raw materials.
« The rise in agricultural commodity prices is particularly worrying, given that the last time they reached these levels we had the Arab Spring. »
Nickel, of which Russia is also a major producer, topped the $30,000 per ton mark, a first since 2008.
The companies most exposed to Russia are necessarily the most penalized. In Paris, Societe Generale fell by 10.03% and Alstom by 9.04%.
In Frankfurt, Uniper, which was involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, sold 11.85%. Banks, including Commerzbank (-10.27%), and autos, such as Volkswagen (-6.99%), also suffered.
In Milan, the falls of the operator Telecom Italia (-15.56%), the bank Unicredit (-14.59%) or Intesa San Paolo (-7.30%) also weighed on the rating.
Between fuel prices and geopolitical concern, the titles of American airlines fell from high like United Airlines (-9.07% to 36.71 dollars) or American Airlines (-7.13% to 14.59 dollars ).
In addition, bitcoin yielded some gains for the week (-6.06%) to 39,545 dollars.