by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – Major European stock markets, except Paris, closed lower on Monday, and on Wall Street two of the three main indices were in the red at mid-term in a cautious session, at the start of a week that will be marked by many economic and inflation indicators as well as the results of Nvidia.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a gain of 0.18% at 7,590.37 points, driven by Unibail Rodamco-Westfield and TotalEnergies, with the rise of the European real estate and energy sectors. The German Dax fell by 0.06%. The London Stock Exchange remained closed for a public holiday.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.25%, the FTSEurofirst 300 fell by 0.05% and the Stoxx 600 lost 0.02%.

At the time of the European closing, the Dow Jones advanced by 0.09%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell by 0.30% and the Nasdaq declined by 0.80%.

Stock markets consolidated on Monday as the S&P 500 neared its record high and the pan-European Stoxx 600 index hit a three-week high on Friday after three straight weekly gains.

Investors, who welcomed the announcement by Jerome Powell, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, on Friday of an imminent reduction in borrowing costs, are now awaiting inflation figures from both sides of the Atlantic, US gross domestic product (GDP) and Nvidia’s results (-1.87%).

These key meetings, scheduled for this week, are fueling a certain volatility with the VIX on Wall Street, nicknamed the fear index, which rose 3.3% to 16.4 points on Monday.

VALUES

The European oil and gas sector ended up 0.73% as authorities controlling eastern Libya announced Monday the closure of all oil fields and the suspension of production and exports. In Paris, TotalEnergies advanced 1.12% and in Milan, Eni gained 1.05%.

Telecom Italia rose 2.23% after reports that Italian banker Claudio Costamagna is working on a plan to bring together a group of investors who may be interested in buying Vivendi’s stake (+0.70%) in the Italian telecoms group.

TODAY’S INDICATORS

The morale of German business owners eroded less sharply than expected in August, with the index falling to 86.6 from 87.0, according to a survey by the Ifo institute.

New core orders for U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell 0.1% in July, and the previous month’s data was revised down, suggesting a loss of momentum in business spending, Commerce Department data showed.

CHANGES

The dollar strengthened slightly on Monday, by around 0.5%, against a basket of reference currencies, after hitting a 13-month low of 100.6 points at the end of last week.

The euro fell 0.19% to $1.1169 as Philip Lane, chief economist at the European Central Bank (ECB), noted over the weekend that eurozone inflation had made “good progress” but that the 2% target was not yet assured. The ECB’s next monetary policy decision is expected on September 12.

RATE

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes was steady at 3.803%, after falling about six points on Friday.

The German Bund of the same maturity ended up around two points, at 2.248%, while its French equivalent came out at 2.955%, also up around two points.

The yield spread between these two maturities is still around 70 basis points, while the National Rally (RN) categorically opposed on Monday the hypothesis of the appointment of a government in France from the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) as part of the consultations led by Emmanuel Macron.

OIL

The oil market is rising sharply due to tensions in the Middle East and the announcement of a production halt in Libya while no agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was reached during the round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas which ended Sunday in Cairo.

Brent jumped 2.80% to $81.24 per barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) jumped 3.19% to $77.22.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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