2023-09-12 14:22:04
Paris (awp/afp) – World markets are trending downward on Tuesday, with investors limiting risk-taking before the publication of American inflation on Wednesday and the meeting of the European Central Bank on Thursday.
The New York Stock Exchange opened lower, cautiously after a rebound on Monday. In early trading, the Dow Jones fell 0.18%, the Nasdaq index returned 0.16% and the broader S&P 500 index lost 0.22%.
In Europe, the indices moved in dispersed order: Frankfurt fell by 0.38% and Paris by 0.22% while London advanced by 0.42%. As for the Swiss Stock Exchange, it saw its flagship SMI index remain just above 11,000 points, gaining 0.31% around 4:20 p.m.
A wait-and-see attitude reigns over the session, with investors’ attention mainly focused on Wednesday’s publication of inflation in the United States, which the American Central Bank (Fed) is trying to curb by increasing its key rates.
On Thursday, all eyes will then be on the meeting in Frankfurt of the European Central Bank (ECB): the institution will have to choose between raising its rates for the tenth time in a row or decree a pause, with a disappointing inflation trajectory and a gloomy economic situation. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg appear divided, betting with an “almost equal distribution” between the two possible outcomes, underlines John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud.
“The probability that (the ECB) will raise its key rates again is relatively strong, despite the extreme deterioration of economic data in the euro zone,” says Véronique Riches-Flores, of RichesFlores Research. It is “too early for an immediate increase”, she says, believing however that the ECB should “accompany its decision with a more open discourse on the possibility of a break in October”.
On the bond market, rates were tightening and were at rather high levels, driven by the prospect of central bank rates being “high for a long time”, notes Stephen Innes of SPI AM. The interest rate on the two-year US debt, the most sensitive to monetary policy expectations, rose to 5.01% around 1:55 p.m. GMT compared to 4.99% at the last close. US 10-year Treasury yields were at 4.29%, the same as the day before.
Apple expected
Investors will be particularly attentive on Tuesday to the presentation by the Californian technology giant Apple (-0.58% in New York) of its new range of iPhones, which will perhaps integrate the universal charging port imposed by the European Union . Last week, information according to which Beijing had banned the use of the iPhone in certain administrations and state companies caused the group’s stock to fall on Wall Street.
Smurfit does not capture the market
The packaging group Smurfit Kappa fell by 9% in London after confirming its proposed merger with the American WestRock, investors not showing themselves convinced by the ambition to create “a world leader in sustainable packaging”.
On the side of oil, currencies and bitcoin
Oil prices are up on Tuesday. Around 1:30 p.m., a barrel of North Sea Brent was trading around $91.17 (+0.58%) and a barrel of American WTI around $87.94 (+0.74%).
On the foreign exchange market, the dollar regained color while awaiting American inflation figures, while the pound lost ground following the publication of an increasing unemployment rate in the United Kingdom.
Around 3:55 p.m. GMT, the dollar gained 0.34% to 1.0713 dollars per euro.
Bitcoin gained 4.47%, to $26,210, making up for its losses from the day before when it had reached its lowest level in three months, falling below $25,000.
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