2023-07-04 11:55:24
* Wall Street closed for Independence Day
* Uncertainties on the rates and the economic situation
* Key indicators expected this week
* Defensive stocks sought, Casino suspended
by Claude Chendjou
PARIS, July 4 (Archyde.com) – European stock markets moved in scattered order at mid-session on Tuesday, with slight variations in the absence of Wall Street, the day being a public holiday in the United States, and pending new macroeconomic indicators expected this week.
In Paris, the CAC 40 fell by 0.02% to 7,385.27 points around 12:30 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax drops 0.17%. In London, the FTSE takes 0.23%, driven mainly by real estate and health, with Astrazeneca
notably.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.28%, the EuroStoxx 50 in the euro zone gained 0.02% and the Stoxx 600 gained 0.26%.
Wall Street ended Monday up slightly, following a shortened session, ahead of the celebration of American Independence Day, and will not reopen until Wednesday with the publication of the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed).
In terms of economic indicators, investors are waiting for the monthly survey from the ADP firm on employment in the United States on Thursday and the official report on the matter from the Department of Labor on Friday.
In the euro zone, following the disappointing figures published on Monday on manufacturing activity, the slowdown of which worsened in June under the effect of the tightening of the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB), the market is now waiting for the indices Final PMIs on services expected Wednesday.
“Data in the US and EU increasingly suggests the risk of a slowdown in economic activity as the Fed and ECB continue to raise the specter of higher interest rates to come,” notes Stuart Cole, chief macroeconomist at Equiti Capital.
For him, this might lead investors to take their profit, the equity markets having generally posted a good performance over the past quarter, while the Nasdaq achieved over the first six months of the year its highest strong growth in 40 years for a first half.
VALUES IN EUROPE
Cyclical stocks such as autos (-0.63%), industrials (-0.45%) and banks (-0.29%) are among the biggest decliners on the Stoxx 600. Conversely , the positive trend is mainly driven by defensive stocks, particularly in real estate compartments
(+2.79%), health (+0.91%), utilities (+0.5%) and telecoms (+0.55%).
In the news of listed companies, the Casino action is suspended pending the publication of a press release while the title gained in the morning more than 15%, the distributor in difficulty having announced before the opening of the markets to have received two offers aimed at strengthening its equity.
Alstom (-4.35%) is the red lantern of the CAC 40 before the publication of its results on July 25, the group’s orders being likely to be weak according to analysts.
On the SBF 120, Virbac plunged 8.85% following a warning on its results.
Elsewhere in Europe, the British supermarket group Sainsbury’s
fell 1.38% as fears of increased competition in the sector took precedence over strong like-for-like sales in the first quarter.
The German group of semiconductors Aixtron gives up 1.86% following the decision of China to limit the exports of rare metals used in particular for the manufacture of chips.
RATE
The prospect of high interest rates for an extended period continues to drive bond yields in Europe.
The German two-year remains close to its 15-year high, at 3.313%, while the ten-year is up more than four basis points, at 2.476.
In Great Britain, the yield of “Gilts” to two years is displayed at 5.321%, close to the peak since June 2008 reached on Monday.
CHANGES
The US greenback varies little (+0.04) once morest a basket of reference currencies, including the euro, which is trading at 1.0896 dollars (-0.14%).
The Australian dollar took 0.24% to 0.6687 US dollar despite the decision of the Central Bank of Australia (RBA) to maintain its key rate at 4.10%. The RBA, however, warned that further rate hikes may be needed to pull prices down.
OIL
The oil market is on the rise, still supported by the decision of Saudi Arabia and Russia to reduce their crude production.
Brent rose 1.39% to $75.69 a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.48% to $70.82.
NO MAJOR ECONOMIC INDICATOR ON THE AGENDA FOR JULY 4
(Edited by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
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