by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – The European stock markets ended in the green on Thursday after two consecutive sessions in the red and on Wall Street the three indices were also up at the end of the morning in New York in a session marked by a technical rebound while awaiting the Eurozone inflation data and the monthly US employment report, two indicators scheduled for Friday.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a gain of 0.52% to 7,450.63 points, the first close in the green since the start of 2024. The British Footsie advanced by 0.53% and the German Dax by 0. 53%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index increased by 0.61% and the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.68%. The Stoxx 600, up 0.70%, also finished in the green for the first time since the start of this new year.

The indices in Europe were driven by the health (+1.37%) and energy (+0.83%) compartments after the marked decline the day before in the Stoxx 600, which fell to its lowest since the December 14.

The market ignored the publication of the PMI indices for services activity which remained in a contraction zone in France, Germany and the rest of the euro zone.

The provisional re-acceleration of inflation in France and Germany, pending the figures for the entire euro zone due on Friday, has also not shaken the hypothesis of a rate cut by the European Central Bank ( BCE) this year.

Traders still expect in total a reduction of around 140 basis points in the cost of credit in the eurozone and just seem undecided on the timing of the first cut.

In the United States, after the publication of the monthly survey from the ADP firm, which showed that the private sector had created more jobs than expected in December, traders continue to bet with a probability of 66.4% on a reduction in the cost of credit by at least 25 basis points in March. The probability that this will occur in May is 95%, according to the CME Group’s Fedwatch barometer.

Investors are now awaiting the release on Friday of official monthly data on American employment, closely followed by the American Federal Reserve in its setting of interest rates, to gauge the resilience of the labor market, despite the ongoing monetary tightening.

A WALL STREET

At the close in Europe, the Standard & Poor’s 500, which recorded its biggest drop over the first two sessions of the year since the end of October, rebounded by 0.31%. The Dow Jones advances by 0.64% and the Nasdaq by 0.11%.

Apple fell by 1.24%, degraded by Piper Sandler, two days after the lowering of Barclays’ advice on the value.

Intel subsidiary Mobileye Global plunges 25.49% after a warning on its annual turnover, which shakes automotive chip suppliers like NXP Semiconductors (-3.05%) and Texas Instruments (-1.01%).

Nike (-0.77%), Under Armor (-2.13%) and Foot Locker (-1.47%) are penalized by the warning from the British distributor JD Sports on its annual profit forecast.

Walgreens falls 7.29% after cutting its dividend by almost half as part of cost-saving measures.

VALUES IN EUROPE

Adidas (-3.01%) and Puma (-5.89%) finished in the red in the wake of JD Sports which plunged 22.99%, at the bottom of the Stoxx 600.

At the top of the Stoxx 600, the British fashion retailer Next (+5.79%) benefited from the increase in its annual profit forecast.

The German pharmaceutical group Evotec tumbled 18.3% after the announcement of the surprise departure of its chairman of the board Werner Lanthaler.

On the CAC 40, Carrefour, which indicated that it no longer wanted to sell PepsiCo products due to the price increase, gained 0.93%.

CHANGES

The dollar, down 0.18%, returned from a three-week high against a basket of reference currencies.

The euro, which fell to a two-week low on Wednesday, rebounded 0.30% to $1.0954.

The pound sterling stands at 1.2691 dollars (+0.23%).

RATE

The yield on the ten-year German Bund, which ended up almost nine basis points, at 2.117%, its highest level since December 15, reacts to the rebound in inflation in Germany and France before the figures for the entire euro zone.

The yield on US Treasury bonds of the same maturity, up more than seven basis points, at 3.9893%, is driven by the ADP employment survey, which calls for a readjustment of expectations for a decline rates.

OIL

The oil market is volatile, erasing its initial gains at the close of the stock markets in Europe, with fears about changes in the economy and demand for crude taking precedence over concerns related to supply in a context of disruption in Libya and tensions in the Middle East.

A barrel of Brent lost 2.08% to $76.62 and that of American light crude (WTI) fell 2.09% to $71.19.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Zhifan Liu)

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