PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are trending upwards on Friday morning, with indices at record levels, after indicators in the United States which revive the hope of a drop, from the month of May, in rate of the American Federal Reserve (Fed).

In Paris, the CAC 40, which recorded a record at 7,797.24 points, rose 0.56% to 7,786.97 points around 09:00 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.54% and reached a historic high at 17,147.61 points. In London, the FTSE 100 advanced 0.74%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index increased by 0.59% and the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.5%. The Stoxx 600 advances by 0.49% after an unprecedented peak at 491.31 points.

Over the week as a whole, the CAC shows a gain of 1.84% at this stage and the Stoxx 600 an increase of 1.28%, the indices having benefited in recent days from solid company results.

Futures contracts on Wall Street predict a stable opening for the Dow Jones, an increase of 0.12% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and an increase of 0.53% for the Nasdaq the day after a session in the green.

Data on retail sales in the United States, released Thursday, showed a sharper decline in January than expected, fueling speculation that the Fed could be forced to make a first rate cut in May, according to the CME FedWatch barometer which gives a probability of 40% in favor of this scenario.

The expected publication at 1:30 p.m. GMT of producer prices (PPI) in the United States, whose forecasts are for a rebound to 0.1% on a monthly basis but a slowdown to 0.6% on an annual basis, could dampen or confirm the hope of the markets.

In the meantime, on the bond markets, the yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds gained 2.9 basis points, to 4.2713% and that of the German Bund of the same maturity also rose slightly, by around three points. , at 2.389%, while the governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, estimated on Friday that the European Central Bank (ECB) could not “exaggerately postpone the first reduction” in rates.

In the statistics already published this Friday, the consumer price index (CPI) in France, harmonized with European standards (HICP), shows a slowdown to 3.4% compared to 4.1% in December. Over one month, it shows a contraction of 0.2% after an increase of 0.1% in December. These data are consistent with expectations.

In Great Britain, the stronger-than-expected rebound in retail sales in January, a sign of a certain strength in consumption, offsets the fears aroused the day before by the publication of figures showing that the country entered recession at the end of 2023.

In terms of values, company publications are still driving discussions, notably with Eutelsat (+0.70%) which is in demand after an increase in its revenues in its second fiscal quarter.

Orpea (+0.78%) and Covivio (+0.96%) are also in the green after their results, while Euronext (-0.41%) does not benefit from an adjusted operating profit better than expected in the fourth quarter.

Elsewhere in Europe, Norwegian Air soars 10.84%, the airline having announced that it is targeting a record profit this year.

Swiss Re, which published a net profit for 2023 without surprise, lost 1.54%, while the Belgian Umicore fell by 3.48% after reporting a more marked decline in profit than expected.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Zhifan Liu)

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