by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets, apart from Frankfurt, ended down on Tuesday and Wall Street also moved in the red at mid-session in a context of risk aversion linked to disappointing economic statistics in China, uncertainties on the debt ceiling in the United States and corporate results below expectations.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended down 0.59% at 7,397.17 points. The British Footsie lost 0.18%. The German Dax gained 0.02%, thanks in particular to “utilities” such as RWE and E.ON.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.59%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.37% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.33%.

A wait-and-see attitude dominated trade in Europe, with investors in particular awaiting the publication on Wednesday of consumer price figures in the United States and Germany which could give indications on the trajectory of interest rates in the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) as the Bank of England (BoE) meets on Thursday.

ECB officials Peter Kazimir and Joachim Nagel argued on Tuesday for further interest rate hikes to curb inflation, as the market priced in a 25 basis point hike in interest rates this month. the BoE in the wake of the decisions taken by the Fed and the ECB last week.

On the US debt ceiling, President Joe Biden is due to meet at 8:00 p.m. GMT with Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy, in hopes of reaching a compromise in Congress by June 1.

AT WALL STREET

At the time of closing in Europe, the Dow Jones fell by 0.15%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.43% and the Nasdaq by 0.66%, the indices being weighed down in particular by corporate results.

Paypal Holdings fell 11.41% after the payment group lowered its annual margin forecast.

The chipmaker Skyworks Solutions (-5.459%), supplier of Apple (-0.9%), weighs on other stocks in the sector such as Qualcomm (-1.61%) after the announcement of a forecast of revenue and profit below expectations for the current quarter.

VALUES IN EUROPE

The real estate compartment (-2.86%) recorded the largest sectoral decline in Europe, weighed down in particular by the Swedish group SBB (-24.2%), which suspended the dividend and canceled a capital raising after downgrading of its credit rating by S&P Global. In Paris, Unibail Rodamco fell by 1.73% and Icade by 2.37%.

The luxury sector, sensitive to China, was penalized by an indicator showing a surprise drop in Chinese imports in April: Kering, Hermès, Richemont, Moncler lost from 0.84% ​​to 2.71%.

In corporate results, British insurer Direct Line fell 4.59% after saying it expected profit pressure this year, while Dutch fertilizer producer OCI fell 2.76% after a quarterly Ebitda below expectations.

The results of Banco BPM (+7.55%) were on the other hand welcomed, while JD Sports (+1.17%) benefited from its plan to take over the shoe distributor Courir.

FOREX The dollar rose 0.32% against a basket of benchmark currencies but remained close to recent lows ahead of US inflation figures on Wednesday.

The euro is trading at 1.0953 dollars (-0.46%) and the pound is stable at 1.2609 dollars ahead of Thursday’s BoE meeting.

RATE

Bond yields are broadly stable: the ten-year German DE10YT=RR> ended up about two basis points, at 2.33%, and its American equivalent appears at 3.51%.

OIL

Oil prices, which have risen sharply in the last two sessions, retreated after Chinese economic statistics: Brent fell 1.91% to $75.54 a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.82 % at $71.83.

TO BE FOLLOWED ON MONDAY:

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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