Thanks to comments by the Russian president that talks would move in a positive direction with Ukraine, Paris closed up 0.85%, Frankfurt 1.38%, Milan 0.80% and Zurich 0.92 %.
The stock markets rebounded on Friday in Europe supported by hopes of a diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but Wall Street was more fierce in a military and economic context full of uncertainties.
Without a clear opening trend, European markets ended on a positive note, benefiting from a technical rebound in Paris (+0.85%), Frankfurt (+1.38%) and Milan (+0.80%). ), thanks to comments by the Russian president that talks would move in a positive direction with Ukraine. In Zurich, the SMI gained 0.92%.
At the same time in New York, the main indices slowed compared to the opening: the Dow Jones was up slightly by 0.13% but the Nasdaq index fell 0.83% and the S&P 500 expanded. 0.25%.
Volatility remained high this week.
The market will remain feverish “as long as Russian missiles fall on Ukrainian cities” and this means that “most investors, especially long-term investors, will stay away from the stock markets”, predicts Konstantin Oldenburger, analyst at CMC Markets.
But, to observe this weekend in the green, “the extreme fear of the market” seems, according to him, “to turn slowly into something more akin to apprehension”.
As the Russian army extended its offensive against Ukraine on Friday, the sanctions continue to rain down.
The Europeans meeting at the Versailles summit on Friday further increased pressure on Russia to end its military offensive, reserving the possibility of doubling European funding intended to arm Ukraine and also attack imports of gas or oil.
US President Joe Biden, together with the G7 and the European Union, wants to exclude Russia from the normal reciprocity regime governing world trade, which would allow it to inflict tariff hikes in response to the invasion of the ‘Ukraine.
The United States and the EU have also announced a ban on luxury goods exports to Russia.
Several sessions of talks have taken place over the past two weeks, but at this stage, no progress has been made towards a ceasefire.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has amplified the boom in commodity prices and has given ground to a scenario of stagflation, in other words, stubborn inflation combined with a stagnating economy.
Several metals including nickel, but also gas and wheat have already reached record highs this week.
Sign of concern, US consumer confidence deteriorated further in March, reaching its lowest level in more than 10 years.
Deutsche Bank retreating from the rebound
Deutsche Bank dropped 1.53% to 9.59 euros. Germany’s leading bank is not withdrawing completely from Russia, as it wants to continue serving customers who cannot sever their ties there overnight. It is a question of supporting them “as much as possible during this difficult phase”, said Thursday the boss Christian Sewing.
Coveted Pearson
British publishing and educational services giant Pearson soared 18% to 776.60 at the end of trading after news that Apollo had already made two takeover bids.
Rivian on a steep slope
The electric vehicle manufacturer slipped (-2.48% to 40.14 dollars) after announcing Thursday, after the stock market, that it planned to produce only 25,000 copies of its models, while analysts anticipated 40,000.
On the side of oil, the euro and bitcoin
Around 5:30 p.m. GMT, a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May rose 2.49% to 112.04 dollars.
The barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April climbed 3.38% to 109.62 dollars.
The euro lost 0.60% against the greenback, at 1.0916 dollars.
Sign of a slight renewed appetite for risk, gold, safe haven par excellence, fell 0.39% to 1,989 dollars an ounce.
Bitcoin fell 1.66% to $38,675.