by Claude Chendjou
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets, driven in particular by the rebound in the energy sector, are up slightly on Thursday at mid-session in a relatively calm market in the absence of Wall Street, which is closed for the day due to the Thanksgiving holiday and will only reopen Friday for a shortened session. In Paris, the CAC 40 advanced 0.22% to 7,276.4 points around 11:20 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.12%. In London, the FTSE, penalized in particular by the real estate sector, lost 0.11%.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index is stable (0.05%) despite the victory of Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV) in the Dutch legislative elections.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index nibbles 0.06% and the EuroStoxx 50 of the euro zone 0.11%. The Stoxx 600, which hit a two-month high on Wednesday, gained another 0.09%.
After the publication on Tuesday evening of the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting of the American Federal Reserve (Fed), considered unsurprising, investors are awaiting that of the European Central Bank (ECB), scheduled for 12:30 GMT.
It should reinforce the scenario of the end of the rise in interest rates in the euro zone while traders are now counting on a drop in the cost of credit in the bloc from April, against a backdrop of fear of a recession .
Euro zone private sector activity remained in the red in November, suggesting the bloc’s economy will contract again this quarter as consumers cut spending, according to PMIs released on Thursday.
In Great Britain, however, activity returned to growth in November, which could call into question the hope of a rapid rate cut from the Bank of England (BoE).
VALUES IN EUROPE
The positive trend in Europe is led by the oil and gas sector which rebounded by 0.88% after two sessions in the red. TotalEnergies takes 1.22% and BP 1.46%.
In the news of listed companies, Stellantis is in the green (+0.29%) after the announcement of the repurchase by the Franco-Italian-American manufacturer for almost a billion euros of shares from its Chinese partner Dongfeng.
The poultry meat specialist LDC jumped 4.28% after raising its annual forecasts following a net profit above expectations in the first half of its financial year.
Novo Nordisk, the largest European capitalization, advances 0.54% after the announcement of an investment of 2.1 billion euros in France to stimulate the production of drugs against obesity.
On the downside, Virgin Money lost 3.82% due to an annual profit lower than the consensus, while the Spanish community services group Endesa gave up 2.66% after lowering its profit forecast for this year.
RATES The ten-year British Gilt yield is up more than eight basis points, to 4.239%, after the publication of the PMI indices. The two-year bond jumped almost 12 points, to 4.729%, while the markets reduced the probability of a BoE rate cut for the August meeting to around 50%.
The yield on the ten-year German Bund, the benchmark for the entire euro zone, increased by around three points, to 2.6%.
EXCHANGES The euro rose on Thursday, for the first time in a week, after PMI indices suggested that the slowdown in the bloc’s economy could begin to ease. However, currency trading is volatile while markets are closed in the United States and Japan.
The single European currency stands at 1.0914 dollars, up 0.25%.
The pound sterling climbed 0.41% to $1.2543, regaining some of the ground lost on Wednesday following the presentation of the British budget which forecast growth much lower than previous forecasts.
The Swedish crown lost 0.35% to 11.45 against the euro after the decision of the Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, to leave its main key rate unchanged, at 4.00%.
OIL
Oil prices fell again on Thursday, still penalized by the unexpected postponement of the OPEC+ meeting to November 30, fueling speculation that the organization might not further reduce its production quotas next year due to differences between his members.
Brent fell by 0.94% to $81.19 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) by 0.87% to $76.43.
NO MORE MAJOR ECONOMIC INDICATOR ON THE AGENDA FOR NOVEMBER 23
(Written by Claude Chendjou)
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