by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended five consecutive sessions of decline on Thursday and Wall Street was also in the green at the end of the morning in New York, the rebound of the markets being favored by raw materials and cheap purchases while waiting for inflation figures in the euro zone and the United States, as well as an intervention from Jerome Powell, the president of the American Federal Reserve (Fed).

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a gain of 0.63% to 7,116.24 points. The British Footsie gained 0.11% and the German Dax 0.70%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index advanced by 0.72% and the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.41%. The Stoxx 600, at the end of a volatile session, ended up 0.36%, narrowly avoiding a sixth consecutive session of decline.

On the eve of the last session of September, the CAC 40 is currently down 2.76% since the start of the month and the Stoxx 600 is down 2.13%.

The stock markets were somewhat reassured this Thursday by the marked slowdown in consumer prices in September in Germany, inflation having returned to its level at the start of the war in Ukraine (+4.3% over one year ).

Figures for the entire euro zone will be published on Friday, as will statistics on household income and spending in the United States, which incorporates the PCE price index and will provide investors with guidance on the Fed’s monetary policy. .

Its president, Jerome Powell, who recently insisted that interest rates should remain high for longer than expected, or even increase again, is due to speak at 8:00 p.m. GMT.

However, not all Fed officials seem to share this opinion: the president of the Chicago Fed, Austan Goolsbee, thus maintained this Thursday that inflation could fall without an increase in unemployment, pleading for “great caution” on future decisions of the American central bank.

VALUES IN EUROPE

The basic resources (+2.18%) and energy (+0.65%) compartments supported the trend, in a context of fears about supply.

TotalEnergies advanced 1.1% after announcing the sale of a stake in Angola to Petronas.

Beneteau fell 12.46% after its half-year results.

AMS Osram plunged 20.17%, the Swiss sensor manufacturer having announced a planned capital increase of 2.25 billion euros.

A WALL STREET

At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones advanced by 0.49%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.77% and the Nasdaq by 1.11%, driven by cheap purchases in new technologies including The index increased by 1.05%.

TODAY’S INDICATORS

US GDP was revised downward for all first quarters of 2020 to 2022, while that of the second quarter of 2023 was confirmed to be up 2.1% annualized.

Unemployment claims increased in the United States last week, to 204,000 from 202,000 (revised) the previous week, according to data from the Labor Department.

CHANGES

The dollar returned from a ten-month high, losing 0.56% against a basket of reference currencies.

The euro, which fell the day before to a nine-month low, rose to 1.0563 dollars (+0.6%).

The pound sterling, up 0.6% to $1.2207, however remains at a six-month low against the greenback.

RATE

Bond yields in the euro zone continued to rise, with the German ten-year ending with a gain of 13.5 basis points, at 2.938% and the two-year with an increase of 6.6 points, at 2.938%.

The yield of the American ten, which recently reached a 16-year high, is volatile, losing one basis point at the close of the European stock markets, to 4.6179% after rising to 4.688%.

OIL

Oil prices are victims of profit taking after hitting a ten-month high: Brent lost 0.6% to 95.97 dollars per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1% to 92.74 dollars.

TO BE CONTINUED FRIDAY:

Publication at 09:00 GMT of inflation in the euro zone (first estimate) for the month of September and at 12:30 GMT of household income and expenditure figures in the United States for the month of August with the PCE price index.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Bertrand Boucey)

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