After an unstable session, the main European indices ended up slightly: Paris by 0.12% and Frankfurt by 0.17%, Milan by 0.41% and London by 0.26%. In Zurich, the SMI climbed 1.02%.
Western stock markets showed optimism on Friday and throughout the week despite geopolitical uncertainties related to Ukraine and fears regarding global economic growth.
According to the specialized agency Bloomberg, the European markets have eliminated all the losses suffered since the start of the conflict on February 24 and achieved their best weekly score since November 2020.
After an unstable session, the main European indices ended up slightly: Paris by 0.12% and Frankfurt by 0.17%, Milan by 0.41% and London by 0.26%. In Zurich, the SMI gained 1.02%.
The CAC 40 gained 5.75% over the week as a whole, like the German Dax which rose by nearly 6%.
“To the surprise of many, the Dax has gained nearly 1,000 points over the past five days,” noted Konstantin Oldenburger, analyst at CMC Markets, who nevertheless believes that, “in the current context of rising interest rates interest, runaway inflation and geopolitical turmoil, there’s not much positive for growth stocks either.
After a lower opening, the New York Stock Exchange was also on the rise at 5:20 p.m. GMT, the Dow Jones appreciating by 0.09%, the Nasdaq index, with strong technological coloring, by 1.27%, and the broader S&P 500 index by 0.44%.
The market operators remain in the immediacy of the military and diplomatic evolution of the conflict in order to be able to position themselves according to the declarations of the negotiators.
However, for the markets to resume a sustainable upward trend, the Ukrainian crisis would need to be resolved.
During an exchange, US Presidents Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping said military conflicts were “in no one’s interest”, while fighting is still raging in Ukraine. Mr. Biden urged China to distance itself from Moscow.
For his part, the Russian president spoke with the German chancellor before doing the same with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, since 4:00 p.m. GMT.
The Russian-Ukrainian talks seem to have been skating for a few days.
The conflict will weigh on global growth. Major international economic organizations expect “widespread global economic fallout,” including reductions in energy and food supplies, rising prices and poverty.
The Fed opted to raise rates more cautiously than expected on Wednesday, due to the war according to an official of the American Central Bank, for which it will take several more sharp increases this year.
In the bond market, the interest rate on US 10-year debt eased to 2.15% around 5:25 p.m. GMT, while short-term rates approached this level, a sign that investors are worried regarding the growth in the United States.
The “various advances have mainly benefited the most cyclical sectors and those which had been most penalized by the war”, details a note from Edmond de Rothschild AM.
The technological stocks sought
The technology sector was particularly sought following by investors, in the wake of the Nasdaq in New York. In Paris, STMicroelectronics (+2.84%), Dassault Systemes (+2.65%) and Capgemini (+2.25%) were among the most demanded stocks, as was Infineon (+1.54%) in Frankfurt .
On the side of oil and currencies
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday it hoped that the next OPEC+ meeting would “relieve the market” and asked oil-producing countries to be “on the safe side”, a call from the foot to significantly increase their production. She also unveiled measures to rapidly reduce consumption globally.
Crude oil prices were rising, however. Around 5:30 p.m. GMT, the price of a barrel of American WTI rose 1.78% to 103.46 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea was up 1.28% to 108 dollars.
On the London metals market, nickel lost 12% to nearly 37,000 dollars per tonne in the morning but its price is now immobile because the decline has reached the maximum set by the regulator.
On the currency market, the euro fell 0.32% once morest the greenback, to 1.1058 dollars.
Bitcoin rose 2.07% to $41,572.
