by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets, apart from Paris and Frankfurt, were victims of profit-taking on Wednesday after the rebound the day before, while on Wall Street, caution was in order mid-session as the session approached. of the publication of American inflation figures which could influence the trajectory of Federal Reserve rates.

In Paris, the CAC 40 finished practically stable (+0.08%) at 7,954.39 points, struggling to cross the 8,000 point mark after its historic peak of 7,976.4 points, reached last week. The German Dax, driven by industrial stocks such as Siemens (+1.83%), Volkswagen (+1.45%) and Mercedes (+1.72%), recorded a historic high during the session, at 17,605.61 points before closing up 0.25%. The British Footsie fell 0.76%, weighed down in particular by Reckitt.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.04% and the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.31%. The Stoxx 600 moved away from its record of 497.74 points, ending down 0.35%. The pan-European index was penalized in particular by new technologies (-1.4%), the consumption of personal and household goods (-1.2%) and real estate (-1.83%) following a few company results considered disappointing.

At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones fell by 0.17%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.10% and the Nasdaq by 0.33%, in trade marked by wait-and-see attitude before publication on Thursday of the monthly PCE price index in the United States.

Investors fear continued inflationary pressures, as shown by recent consumer price (CPI) and producer price (PPI) data recorded in the United States.

This fear is all the more justified since the second estimate of American gross domestic product (GDP) showed, before the opening of Wall Street, that American growth remained solid in the fourth quarter, with a revised annualized rate of only 3, 3% to 3.2%.

Traders now expect the Fed to cut rates by around 80 basis points this year, about half the figure expected at the end of 2023, according to CME Group’s FedWatch barometer.

VALUES IN EUROPE

In Paris, Worldline fell 10.16% after a 2023 financial year affected by depreciation, while Casino plunged 21.84% following a widening of its net loss in 2023.

Excluding results, Atos ended in the red (+4.05%) after the group confirmed the end of discussions with Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky on the sale of its Tech Foundations division.

Elsewhere in Europe, Swisscom lost 1.37% and Vodafone 0.16%, the two groups being in advanced discussions to merge their subsidiaries in Italy.

Reckitt (-13.29%) weighed on the consumer sector after comparable sales lower than expectations in the fourth quarter, while Taylor Wimpey (-4.76%) penalized the real estate sector by announcing to anticipate a decline in housing construction this year.

The annual forecasts of Dutch meal delivery specialist Just Eat Takeaway (-1.80%) also disappointed.

RATE

The yield on the ten-year German Bund, benchmark for the euro zone, ended virtually unchanged, at 2.461%, but it remains at its highest since the beginning of December while the money markets are only counting on a fall of around 90%. basis points of European Central Bank (ECB) rates this year, compared to 150 points anticipated only a month ago.

The yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds declined slightly, by 2.5 basis points, to 4.2895%.

CHANGES

The dollar strengthened further, by 0.03%, against a basket of reference currencies after having gained 2.8% since the start of the year.

The New Zealand kiwi fell 1.26% to 0.6088 US dollars in reaction to the status quo on rates decided by the New Zealand central bank.

The euro stands at 1.0842 dollars (-0.02%) and the pound sterling at 1.2665 dollars (-0.14%).

“There is a greater chance of continued disinflation in the eurozone, which could perhaps open the door to a faster taper from the European Central Bank,” says Mohamad Al-Saraf, currency strategist and rates at Danske Bank.

Among cryptocurrencies, bitcoin crossed the symbolic mark of 60,000 dollars, standing at 62,935 dollars at the close of the European stock exchanges.

OIL

Oil prices are falling with the rise in crude stocks last week in the United States, according to the latest figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the American energy information agency.

Brent fell by 0.49% to $83.24 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) fell by 0.77% to $78.26.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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