PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are moving in very small variations on Friday morning, after four consecutive sessions in the green, while the day is marked by the publication of a series of mixed economic statistics, including indicators of inflation and economic conditions in Europe and the United States.

In Paris, the CAC 40 took 0.11% on Friday to 7,271.23 around 08:10 GMT. Over the quarter as a whole, the Parisian index is posting growth of 12.31% at this stage, thanks to a quarter that began in euphoria, before the backlash resulting from the banking crisis which brought its gains over the month at just 0.04%.

In London, the FTSE 100 nibbles 0.05% and in Frankfurt, the Dax grabs 0.02%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.04%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.03%. The Stoxx 600 nibbles 0.02%, moving towards a second quarter in the green (+7.07% at this stage), but a drop of 1.34% over the whole month.

Futures contracts on Wall Street also point to a stable opening with the Dow Jones down 0.05%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 up 0.04% and the Nasdaq up 0.08%. The latter index, rich in technology stocks, is on track to gain more than 14% over the quarter, in a context of anticipation of a pause in the rise in interest rates, the impact of which is also starting to materialize. both inflation and economic conditions.

In line with figures on consumer prices published Thursday in Germany and Spain, inflation in France harmonized with European standards slowed in March to 6.6% over one year. However, the monthly variations in inflation remain strong and the underlying data show a persistent rise in prices. Figures for the entire Eurozone are due at 09:00 GMT.

In the United States, the PCE price index in February, closely followed by the United States Federal Reserve (Fed), is due at 12:30 GMT and economists anticipate a slowdown to 0.4% after the rise of 0.6% in January.

Regarding economic conditions, Great Britain narrowly escaped a recession in the fourth quarter with growth of 0.1%, but in Germany retail sales fell unexpectedly in February, by 1.3% on a month, while in France, household consumption fell by 0.8% in February. US household income and spending data is due at 12:30 GMT.

On the stock market, the European distribution compartment, driven in particular the day before by H&M forecasts, gained again (+0.7%), better performance of the Stoxx 600.

The European banking index, down 0.9%, on the other hand, shows the largest drop, the White House having announced new measures intended to strengthen the supervision of medium-sized banks, a return to regulation which could hold back the market.

In corporate news, ABB is in the green after announcing a new billion-dollar share buyback plan, while Ocado (+1.63%) is buoyed by its victory in justice against the Norwegian robotics group AutoStore (-11.79%) in a patent case.

On the downside, the German group Sartorius fell by 5.67% after the announcement of the acquisition for 2.4 billion euros of the French Polyplus, a specialist in gene therapy.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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