(News Bulletin 247) – European stock markets are down sharply this morning, Paris lost 1.8%, behind London (-1%) and Frankfurt (-0.8%).
The markets seem again to be worried about the economy and monetary policy the day after the publication of the ‘minutes’ of the Fed.

Yesterday evening, the Federal Reserve stressed the need to continue a ‘restrictive’ monetary policy until inflation returned to around its 2% target.

According to the ‘minutes’ of the Fed, the American economy – under the effect of the rise in interest rates – could be heading towards a recession by the end of the year.

In a market still up 15% since the beginning of the year, the comments of the US central bank served as a pretext for further consolidation yesterday on Wall Street.

‘The lights are red on growth in Western economies (US and Europe),’ said Joseph Little, global strategist at HSBC Asset Management.

Many economic indicators are expected during the day in the United States, including the ADP survey on private employment, registrations for unemployment benefits and the ISM services.

But beyond the publications of the day, it is above all the employment figures, expected tomorrow, which will play on the trend.

Meanwhile, investors discovered this morning that retail sales were unchanged in the eurozone in May from the previous month, according to data released by Eurostat.
They fell by 0.1% in the EU, compared to April 2023.

In Europe too, bond markets have started a slide that is pushing yields higher, with Bunds returning to around 2.51%.

In European corporate news, oil company bp on Thursday announced a $10 million investment in WasteFuel, a California-based start-up that turns domestic and agricultural waste into biofuel.

Stellantis NV yesterday unveiled the ‘STLA Medium’ platform, designed for electric vehicles and touted as having ‘a range of 700km (435 miles), fuel efficiency, in-vehicle performance and power of refills that are best in class’.

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