by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – European stocks ended lower on Wednesday as Wall Street moved in mid-session chaos after mixed readings of U.S. inflation data and mixed corporate releases.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended down 0.49% at 7,361.2 points. The British Footsie lost 0.29% and the German Dax lost 0.37%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.38%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.43% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.38%.

The United States consumer price statistics, published by the Labor Department, showed that inflation accelerated in April over one month to 0.4% but had slowed down over one year to 4.9% while the Reuters consensus was for 0.4% and 5.0% respectively. So-called core inflation, for its part, posted stagnation at 0.4% over one month and a slight deceleration to 5.5% over one year, figures in line with expectations.

Investors initially welcomed these figures, allowing equity markets to swing into the green, but as trading progressed, the trend turned in Europe, while on Wall Street the Dow Jones has moved into negative territory.

For Sal Guatieri, economist at BMO Capital Markets, there are favorable elements in the CPI data for both the “hawks” and the “doves” of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed). He said core inflation figures will deter the US central bank from lowering rates in the near term, while signs of lower services inflation should support a pause on rates in June.

VALUES

In Europe, basic resources (-0.82%) and the non-cyclical consumer sector (-1.69%), which includes luxury stocks, weighed on the indices. Kering fell 1.40% and LVMH 0.92%, while ArcelorMittal fell 2.06% amid fears over Chinese demand following China trade figures in April.

Casino (-5.95%), which last week reported a slowdown in quarterly revenue growth, was further downgraded on Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s, while the British group ASOS plunged 23.34% due to a net loss in the first half.

Publications from Alstom (-2.41%) and Siemens Healthineers (-5.66%) were also considered disappointing.

Crédit Agricole, which gained 5.04% on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results, and Continental (+3.06%), whose annual forecasts were confirmed, offered some support to the indices.

AT WALL STREET

At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones fell 0.4%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 advanced 0.05% and the Nasdaq 0.58%. The latter briefly recorded an eight-month high in session with a jump of 1.15% thanks in particular to stocks like Apple (+0.80%) and Microsoft (+1.16%) against a backdrop of declining yields US bonds.

Alphabet took 1.11%, the parent company of Google being about to unveil several products based on artificial intelligence.

In corporate earnings, Airbnb plunged 10.07% amid slowing booking growth in the current quarter, while Occidental Petroleum dropped 3.78% after reporting lower adjusted quarterly profit. expectations to.

CHANGES

The prospect of a Fed rate break weighs on the dollar against a basket of benchmark currencies after the US inflation data.

The euro rose slightly to 1.0966 dollars (+0.05%).

RATE

Yields on ten-year and two-year Treasuries each fell around six basis points, to 3.4502% and 3.9472% respectively, while traders now anticipate with an 86% probability a status quo on the rates of the Fed in June..

Their equivalents in Germany ended down about four basis points, at 2.287% and 2.621% respectively.

OIL

Oil prices fell after three consecutive sessions in the green due to the surprise rise in crude inventories in the United States last week: Brent fell 0.96% to 76.7 dollars a barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.21% to $72.82.

TO FOLLOW ON THURSDAY:

Bank of England monetary policy meeting and US producer prices

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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