by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended slightly lower on Wednesday in an indecisive session where investors digested contrasting company results, while on Wall Street, the trend was slightly positive, driven by publications such as that of Ford.

In Paris, the CAC 40, penalized by TotalEnergies, ended down 0.36% at 7,611.26 points. The British Footsie lost 0.68% and the German Dax lost 0.65%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.26%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.32% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.30%.

Equity markets in Europe spent a large part of the session slightly in the green until the opening of Wall Street where bond yields rose slightly after the remarks of the President of the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari, who has mentioned a possible cut in federal funds rates only two or three times this year in the United States.

The Stoxx 600 was mainly driven by company publications, the increase in the automobile sector (+0.51%) following good results from Ford offsetting the decline in energy (-1%).

At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones rose 0.40%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.74% after hitting a record at 4,995.04 points, while the Nasdaq gained 0.81%.

Ford Motor gained 3.76% after the automaker announced better-than-expected quarterly sales and the payment of an additional dividend to shareholders. General Motors rose 1.44% while the non-essential consumer sector (+1.05%) took the lead in the S&P 500.

The publications of Chipotle Mexican Grill’s (+7.4%) and Hilton Worldwide (+1.6%) are also welcomed.

“So far, the results are a little better than expected. It’s not exceptional, but it’s certainly better than the negative numbers that investors were expecting,” says Robert Pavlik, manager at Dakota Wealth.

On the downside, Snap collapsed by 34.84% after publishing quarterly revenue below forecasts. Pinterest lost 0.59%.

VALUES

TotalEnergies, which lost 3.16%, weighed on the CAC 40, with RBC Capital Markets analysts highlighting a publication which overall contains few “fireworks”.

Norwegian oil and gas producer Equinor fell 7.76% after announcing a reduction in shareholder remuneration amid slowing quarterly profit growth.

Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, on the other hand climbed 6.36% thanks to an adjusted operating profit above expectations for the fourth quarter.

Stellantis, which ended up 1.05%, set a session record at 22.09 euros, while Renault rose 2.13%.

In the other compartments, the publication of the Danish brewer Carlsberg (+4.02%) was applauded, while those of the jeweler Pandora (-0.39%) and Akzo Nobel (-1.64%) disappointed.

Sainsbury’s dropped 6.06% after an update of its savings plan and Deutsche Post lost 5.21% after the announcement of the reduction of the German state’s stake in the messaging and parcel delivery group.

RATE

The yield on the ten-year German Bund ended stable at 2.314% after its recent rise, helped in particular by the sharper-than-expected drop in German industrial production in December, which revived hopes of a rapid reduction in bond rates. European Central Bank (ECB).

The yield on ten-year Treasuries increased slightly, to 4.1057%, while the US Treasury Department must raise $42 billion at 10 years this Wednesday.

After Neel Kashkari’s remarks, investors are awaiting interventions from other Fed officials such as Adriana Kugler, Michelle Bowman and Thomas Barkin.

CHANGES

The dollar is returning from a peak of almost three months, losing 0.1% against the euro which is trading at 1.0765, due to a lack of new macroeconomic catalysts.

Against a basket of reference currencies, the greenback fell 0.07%.

OIL

Oil prices are supported by the greater than expected drop in crude oil stocks last week in the United States: Brent rose 0.38% to $78.89 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI ) rose 0.40% to $73.60.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Bertrand Boucey)

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