by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended sharply higher on Thursday and Wall Street was also in the green at mid-session in a context of risk appetite after new economic recovery measures in China, as well as the publication of reassuring American indicators and encouraging prospects in artificial intelligence (AI).

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a gain of 2.33%, to 7,742.09 points. The British Footsie gained 0.20%, its gains being limited by the fall in oil values. The German Dax gained 1.59%, registering a record session at 19,253.07 points.

The EuroStoxx 50 index increased by 2.21%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 1.18% and the Stoxx 600 by 1.19%.

At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones advanced by 0.44%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.18% and the Nasdaq by 0.21%.

Today’s indicators in the United States confirmed the hypothesis of a soft landing for the American economy: orders for durable goods were stable in August, second quarter GDP was confirmed at 3.0% in annualized rate and jobless claims fell slightly last week.

In China, during the meeting of the Politburo, the governing body of the CCP, the authorities committed Thursday to implementing the “necessary budgetary expenditures” to achieve the economic growth target of around 5% set for this year .

According to information from the Bloomberg agency, China is considering injecting up to 1,000 billion yuan (127.63 billion euros) of capital into its main banks to increase their capacity in order to support its struggling economy. This information comes in addition to other stimulus measures announced earlier this week by the People’s Bank of China (PBC).

On the European stock market, stocks exposed to China, particularly in the luxury sector (+6.5%) and basic resources (+4.3%), were particularly sought after, while in the technology sector (+6.5%). +3%) forecasts from the American group Micron Technology (+13%) have revived interest in AI.

VALUES IN EUROPE

The European luxury sector recorded its strongest increase since January with Kering, LVMH and Hermès, Dior and Burberry each gaining nearly 10% at the close.

Ubisoft fell 13.4% after lowering its annual financial targets and postponing the launch of its next game “Assassin’s Creed Shadows”.

Sodexo fell 3.5%, penalized by information according to which the collective catering group is interested in its American competitor Aramark.

H&M fell 4.6% as the retailer lowered its margin target and posted third-quarter profit below expectations.

Commerzbank rose 6.9% as the German bank said it would hold a first round of talks with UniCredit on Friday.

CHANGES

The Swiss franc rose 0.46% against the dollar, to 0.8465, benefiting from the drop of only 25 basis points in rates from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) while the market was expecting a reduction of 50 bps.

The dollar is virtually unchanged against a basket of benchmark currencies as U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell and other central bank officials like John Williams and Lisa Cook opted to not to express themselves on monetary policy or the country’s economic outlook in their various interventions planned for this Thursday.

The euro stands at 1.1179 dollars (+0.42%) and the pound sterling at 1.3412 dollars (+0.67%) after American indicators which somewhat remove the prospect of another drop in 50 basis points of Fed rates in November.

RATE

Sovereign bond yields in the euro zone varied little: that of the ten-year German Bund ended down 1.6 basis points, at 2.173%.

In the United States, the yield on ten-year Treasury bonds increased by 2.1 basis points, to 3.802%.

OIL

Oil prices fell on Thursday, affected by information from the Financial Times according to which Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading exporter of crude, is preparing to abandon its unofficial target of a barrel of oil at $100 to regain market share.

Brent fell 2.57% to $71.57 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) dropped 2.63% to $67.85.

METALS

Spot gold hit a record Thursday at $2,685.42 an ounce, while spot silver rose to its highest since December 2012, at $32.71 an ounce.

The price of gold has increased by almost 30% since the start of the year, breaking records on several occasions, notably due to expectations of rate cuts in the United States.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Sophie Louet)

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