by Laetitia Volga

PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended in the green on Thursday, supported by the rebound of Credit Suisse and the announcement of a rate hike by the European Central Bank (ECB), which remains confident in the soundness of the banking system. , despite the recent turmoil in financial markets.

In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 2.03% to 7,025.72 points. The British Footsie rose 0.89% and the German Dax 1.57%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index advanced by 2.03%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 1.29% and the Stoxx 600 by 1.19%.

On Wall Street, at the time of the close in Europe, the Dow Jones gained 0.59%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 1.16% and the Nasdaq Composite 1.77%.

While the markets have been questioning the attitude of the ECB in recent days, the latter has decided to raise its three key rates by 50 basis points, despite the concerns caused by the bankruptcies of several American banks and above all the difficulties of Credit Suisse.

The financial support offered by the Swiss National Bank to the Swiss bank – which accepted it – convinced the ECB to opt for another sharp rate hike, sources told Reuters.

“The ECB responded to analysts’ expectations with a half-point hike, while stressing that further decisions will depend on the data,” said Massimiliano Maxia, at Allianz Global Investors. “We believe it was the right thing to do, a smaller rise could have raised further concerns about the stability of the financial system,” he added.

Andrea Cicione, head of research at TS Lombard, also points out that dropping any indication of the future path of rates is “implicitly a way of softening” its message.

Investors will now focus on the Federal Reserve meeting next week, while closely following everything that could concern the banking sector.

US money markets are now anticipating that the Fed could continue its monetary tightening with a rate hike of a quarter of a point.

The indicators published in the United States suggest that inflationary pressures are far from being neutralized by the current cycle of monetary tightening, which reinforces expectations of a further increase in US rates.

VALUES

The European banking compartment posted a gain of 1.1% at the close. Credit Suisse jumped 19.15% after falling 24.24% the day before.

In Paris, Societe Generale however lost 1.21%, Crédit Agricole ended stable (+0.02%) and BNP Paribas gained 1.31%.

RATES/EXCHANGES

Yields on government bonds in the euro zone ended up sharply after the announcements of the ECB, at 2.243% and its French equivalent of ten points close to 2.8%.

On the American market, the ten-year gained more than six basis points to 3.5789%.

The euro benefited from the announcements of the ECB and gained 0.37% against the greenback, at 1.0614.

The renewed appetite for risk pushed the dollar down (-0.26%).

OIL

After hitting a 15-month low on Wednesday, the oil market is regaining ground, buoyed by reports that Saudi Arabia’s energy minister and Russia’s deputy prime minister met to discuss ways to improve price stability.

Brent rose 1.3% to 74.65 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.29% to 68.48 dollars.

TO FOLLOW Friday:

(Laetitia Volga, editing by Kate Entringer)

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