by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets ended down on Tuesday, with small variations in the absence of investors on Wall Street, the session having been dominated by a wait-and-see attitude when several key indicators will be published at the end of the week.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended down 0.23% at 7,369.93 points. The British Footsie lost 0.11% and the German Dax lost 0.26%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.16%. The FTSEurofirst 300 however nibbling 0.06% and the Stoxx 600 gleaned 0.07%.

The equity markets moved during the session on a hesitant note, passing alternately in the green or the red on small spreads, for lack of clear direction, Wall Street being closed for the American national holiday.

Pending the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday, investors have continued to digest the “hawkish” remarks of central bankers in recent days.

The disappointment of monthly figures for manufacturing activity in Europe and the United States, combined with the sharp rise in oil prices against the backdrop of an upcoming drop in production in several OPEC + countries, have dampened hopes for an economy insensitive to interest rates and renewed fears that inflation could be more persistent than expected.

The publications on Wednesday and Thursday of data on the activity of the key service sector in Europe and the United States will make it possible to see more clearly on the evolution of the economy, before the official report on American employment scheduled for Friday.

“The session was relatively quiet, with the US holiday naturally weighing on activity and remaining investors had an eye on Friday’s jobs report,” said Craig Erlam, market analyst at OANDA. .

VALUES IN EUROPE

Among the major compartments of the European quotation, the defensive values ​​of real estate (+2.73%), health (+0.53%) and “utilities” (+0.17%) offered a little index support.

In business news, Casino shares were suspended on Tuesday at the request of the distributor, which must publish a press release after the close of trading when it received two offers on Monday aimed at strengthening its equity.

Alstom, down 2.98%, ended up at the bottom of the CAC 40, due to concerns about its orders, while on the SBF 120, Virbac fell 9.04% after a “profit warning”.

Elsewhere in Europe, British supermarket group Sainsbury’s fell 1.821% as competition intensified despite strong quarterly sales, while German semiconductor specialist Aixtron (-0.54%) was penalized by China’s decision to restrict exports of rare metals.

RATE

In the bond market, short-term and long-term yields in Europe moved in mixed order, with the German two-year falling 3.1 basis points, to 3.288%, while remaining close to a 15-year high, while the ten-year gained 2.2 points, to 2.455%.

The yield on two-year British “Gilts”, which hit a peak since June 2008 on Monday, fell 2.6 points to 5.318%.

CHANGES

The dollar index, measuring the fluctuations of the greenback against a basket of reference currencies, is stable (-0.03%).

The euro is trading at 1.0898 dollars (-0.12%) and the pound sterling at 1.27335 dollars (+0.34%). The Australian dollar, up 0.51% at 0.6705 US dollars, benefited from the warning from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) that its rates have not yet reached the terminal stage.

OIL

Oil prices are rising sharply as Saudi Arabia and Russia, two members of OPEC+, decided to cut crude production from next month.

“Clearly, the Saudis are taking proactive and pre-emptive action to stabilize the price of crude oil and see prices reach $80 a barrel to support their national budgets,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.

Brent rose 1.75% to 75.96 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.86% to 71.09 dollars.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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