by CORENTIN CHAPRON

PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended in decline on Tuesday, investors having digested a burst of indicators and company results.

In Paris, the CAC 40 dropped 1.05% to 7,521.97 points, while the German Dax rose 0.06% and the British Footsie declined 0.52%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index ended the session with a drop of 1.71%, while the FTSEurofirst 300 recorded a loss of 0.79% and the Stoxx 600 fell by 0.7%.

Many results have been published on both sides of the Atlantic, and more are expected in the coming days.

In the euro zone, ASML surprised investors by publishing its accounts in advance. The poor figures for the lithographic machine group weighed on the entire technology sector.

In the United States, many banks, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, have published encouraging figures, while nearly 80% of companies making up the S&P 500 have yet to publish their results. Furthermore, a few indicators have driven the exchanges on Tuesday.

In the euro zone, industrial production recovered over one year, while the consensus expected a decline, while the Zew sentiment indicator was better than expected in Germany.

The next rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB), which should be decided on Thursday at its next monetary policy meeting, could help support a European economy which, despite these encouraging data, remains sluggish.

The decline in oil prices also contributed to putting pressure on sectors linked to raw materials.

OIL

Oil prices are falling as the Washington Post reported that Israel did not want to target Iran’s oil infrastructure, while OPEC and the International Energy Agency this week lowered their outlook for demand growth in 2024.

Brent fell by -4.93% to $73.64 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) weakened by -5.23% to $69.97.

A WALL STREET

Wall Street hesitates mid-session, investors digesting a burst of results, while the oil sector and the technology sector weigh, the United States considering limiting sales of advanced electronic chips to other countries.

At closing time in Europe, trading on the New York Stock Exchange indicated a decline of 0.3% for the Dow Jones, compared to 0.3% for the Standard & Poor’s 500, and 0.78% for the Nasdaq Composite.

VALUES

ASML mistakenly published its results, initially expected on Wednesday, and which surprised by the low number of orders placed with the group. The stock fell 15.66%, while the sector fell 6.36%.

ASM International, Be Semiconductors, and Soitec notably posted declines ranging from 7.5% to 11%.

The energy and basic resources sectors fell by 3.24% and 2.34% respectively, with falling oil prices dragging the sectors lower.

TotalEnergies posted the biggest decline in the CAC 40, down 4.56%, under pressure from falling oil prices and after reporting on Tuesday a European refining margin indicator falling in the third quarter.

Poor quarterly figures from American cosmetics group Coty put pressure on the cosmetics segment, with L’Oréal finishing down 3.61%.

Ericsson gained 10.78% after reporting better-than-expected operating profit and sales on Tuesday, thanks to a rebound in demand for 5G equipment in North America.

RATE

European yields ended in decline, the next ECB meeting and indicators considered encouraging supporting sovereign bonds.

The German ten-year yield lost 4.7 bp to 2.228%, that of the two-year rate lost 4.6 bp to 2.213%.

At closing time in Europe, the yield on the ten-year Treasury declined by 2.8 bp to 4.0454%, while the yield on the two-year security increased by 1 bp to 3.9496%.

CHANGES

The pound is rising, supported by above-consensus employment data published on Tuesday, while the publication of inflation figures on Wednesday helps support the currency.

The dollar fell by 0.18% against a basket of reference currencies, the euro eroded by 0.06% to 1.0903 dollars, and the pound sterling strengthened by 0.23% to 1.3089 dollars. .

TO BE CONTINUED ON WEDNESDAY:

(Written by Corentin Chappron, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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