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Paris (AFP) – The Paris Stock Exchange fell 0.15% on Monday, hampered by an upsurge in the Covid-19 epidemic in China, the world’s second largest economy, which cast a chill over global growth prospects.
The star CAC 40 index fell 10.01 points to 6,634.45 points. The Parisian rating had risen by 1.04% on Friday, thus completing its seventh week of increase (+0.76%).
China reported two new deaths of Covid-19 patients on Monday, as several major cities continue to impose severe health restrictions.
This development dampens hopes of an imminent relaxation of the country’s health policy, where local confinements, quarantines and screenings continue to be imposed on a large scale.
“For Europe, it is rather good news that China does not reopen its economy all at once, because that would have made oil and gas prices more expensive, but inflation is the first problem for Europe. “, estimated Vincent Juvyns, strategist for JP Morgan AM, with AFP.
Oil prices also fell by about 5% on Monday in the face of fears of falling Chinese demand for oil.
“We think that inflation in Europe should peak during this quarter,” said Vincent Juvyns.
In Germany, producer prices also recorded a monthly drop in October, the first since May 2020, thanks to falling energy costs.
The chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB) was more cautious on Monday: inflation will remain dynamic with “energy prices next year (which) should remain higher than expected”, warned Phillip Lane.
He also said that the ECB was likely to extend its rate hike cycle beyond 2022, calling on workers and businesses to exercise restraint to support the fight against inflation.
Companies “must be careful not to increase their margins excessively”, employees “must be careful about what is a sustainable wage increase” in the long term, he said.
TotalEnergies sinks with oil
Weighed down by the fall in oil prices, the action of the French energy giant TotalEnergies ended at the bottom of the CAC 40, losing 3.08% to 55.63 euros. Maurel & Prom also fell, by 3.72%, to 4.01 euros.
Vallourec comes out of the red, but falls on the stock market
Vallourec, specializing in seamless pipes for the oil industry, came out of the red in the third quarter, benefiting in particular from a “concern for energy security” in countries deprived of Russian gas as well as the “difficult” decision to close its factories in Germany in 2023 to guarantee its “survival”.
The French industrialist announced for the third quarter a net result of 6 million euros, after a loss of 7 million last year, on a turnover up 54% to 1.28 billion euros .
On the Paris Stock Exchange, the stock fell 13.23% to 9.97 euros. But since the beginning of 2022, it has shown an increase of around 13%.
© 2022 AFP