2023-10-18 12:56:03
Paris (awp/afp) – Markets are trending downward on Wednesday and oil prices are rising, as investors worry regarding worsening geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following a strike hit a hospital in Gaza, killing several hundred people.
In Europe, Paris fell by 0.45%, Frankfurt by 0.50% and London by 0.56% around 12:00 GMT.
“Oil prices rose more than 3%, while stocks fell as Iran toughened its stance on Israel following an explosion at a Gaza hospital,” notes Stephen Innes of SPI AM.
The explosion caused the death of several hundred people. The Islamist movement Hamas, in power in Gaza, accused Israel of being at the origin of this strike but the Israeli army attributed it to Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group, eleven days following the start of the war triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel. Islamic Jihad has also denied and blamed Israel.
In response, Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi declared a day of national mourning and predicted that the strike on the hospital would backfire once morest Israel and its American ally.
“It is certain that an intensification of the conflict is likely to pose risks to global oil supplies, the region being a major production area,” continues Stephen Innes.
Around 11:55 GMT, the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in December, rose 2.12% to $91.81. A barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI), due in November, rose 2.27% to $88.63.
This event “highlights a much greater probability than previously estimated of a possible spread of the conflict”, thus, “short-term caution should largely dominate” the markets, comments Sebastian Paris Horvitz, director of research from LBP AM.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange fell 0.37%.
On the Wall Street side, the futures contracts of the three main indices were down: around 12:00 GMT, the S&P 500 dropped 0.41%, the Nasdaq 0.56% and the Dow Jones 0.26%.
In Asia, the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed stable (+0.01%), Hong Kong fell by 0.23% and Shanghai by 0.80% following the publication of Chinese growth in the third quarter.
Nexi benefits from market rumors
The Nexi group (+13.31% in Milan), specializing in electronic payments, benefited from an article from the financial agency Bloomberg, according to which the investment fund CVC Capital Partners would consider a buyout.
In Paris, the payment specialist Worldline posted the best growth in the CAC 40 with an increase of 4.05%.
For Adidas, nothing is impossible
The German sports equipment manufacturer Adidas (+4.23% in Frankfurt) raised its annual objectives on Tuesday, driven by “better than expected” activity in the third quarter and by the sale of the last stocks of Yeezy sneakers, following the end of his collaboration with rapper Kanye West.
ABB chute
The action of the Swiss-Swedish engineering group ABB (-5.88%) falls in Zurich following the publication of its quarterly results once morest a backdrop of falling demand for robots in China, its boss warning that the weakness of this market should persist.
Luxe: Kering s’offre Creed
The luxury group Kering (+0.17% in Paris) announced on Tuesday that it had finalized the acquisition of the “haute perfumery house” Creed, which “will be consolidated in the Kering accounts from November 1, 2023”, specifies the group in a press release.
On the currency side
The euro was down once morest other currencies. It fell 0.14% once morest the dollar, to 1.0562 dollars per euro around 12:00 GMT and lost 0.23% once morest the British currency at 86.61 pence.
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