PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets rose at the start of the session on Friday, the declarations of an official of the American Federal Reserve on a possible pause in the monetary tightening inciting investors to return to risky assets.
In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.51% to 7,321.29 points at 08:33 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 takes 0.22% and in Frankfurt, the Dax advances by 0.84%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index is up 0.7%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.47% and the Stoxx 600 0.56%.
The Paris market has gained 1.77% since the start of the week and the Stoxx 600 has risen nearly 1%.
Atlanta Federal Reserve Chairman Raphael Bostic called for a “slow and steady” quarter-point rate hike and further opined that the Fed may be able to pause rate hikes. rate in the summer.
Although he is not a voting member of the Fed’s monetary policy committee this year, his comments helped US stocks rebound Thursday and bond yields retreat.
That of the ten-year Bund fell to 2.74% and its American equivalent to 4.032%.
The prospect of a strong economic recovery in China also supports the trend. Investors will be watching for the opening of the National Assembly’s annual session on Sunday, when Beijing will set its 2023 economic targets.
The “futures” on the New York indices are however in the red on Friday, a sign that investors remain cautious. Between now and the Fed meeting on March 22, several major indicators on inflation and the labor market in the United States will be published and could change mentalities on the trajectory of American rates.
The renewed appetite for risk primarily benefits technology stocks, whose valuations are the most sensitive to changes in interest rates: the European Stoxx index for the sector advances by 1.23%.
Thus, STMicroelectronics (+1.72%) and Infineon (+1.25%) erase part of Thursday’s losses.
CGG, which specializes in geophysical services and equipment, takes 1.87% and German airline Lufthansa 5.7% after both returning to profit in 2022.
Luxury group Ferragamo dropped 2.28% after posting a weaker-than-expected drop in its annual operating profit. And the music major UMG (-3.6%) is the red lantern of the Stoxx 600, its 2022 gross operating surplus having been established below analysts’ estimates.
(Laetitia Volga, editing by Kate Entringer)
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