By Pauline Foret

(Reuters) – European scholarships finished on Friday in dispersed order, caution prevailing on most of the clues in the face of the possibility of a world trade war.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended up 0.11% to 8,111.63 points. The British footsie closed on an advance of 0.61% and the German Dax on a decline of 0.25%.

The Eurostoxx 50 index finished on a drop of 0.40%, the FTSEUROFITS 300 of 0.10%and the Stoxx 600 of 0.11%.

The global markets will have had a particularly volatile week after the legislative elections in Germany, a salvo of contrasting macroeconomic data, many business results and Donald Trump’s latest decisions in terms of customs duties.

This Friday, investors showed increased caution in the face of the threat of a world trade war after Donald Trump confirmed the taxation of customs duties in Mexico and Canada, increased tariffs aimed at China and the possibility of imposing on the European Union as well.

“Last month, there was a hope that Trump’s customs duties are only threats and would not be set up … Today, the markets fear that they will really have effect,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank.

“The second thing is the rights of 25% on imports from the European Union. This is new. This number was not there before … And the new numbers did not mostly like,” she added, referring to the drop in the main European indices.

The British Footsie nevertheless is ahead of its peers, notably carried by the increase in IAG (+3.8%) and IMI (+6.3%) after their respective results.

VALUES

The semiconductor sector fell back into the wake of Nvidia the day before, whose results did not convince investors.

ASML fell 2.6%, ASM International of 2.1%and Stmicroelectronics of 2.1%.

In Paris, Valeo decreases by 11.9% after lowering its forecasting of turnover in 2025. Teleperformance sold 7.9%, its forecasts for the current year having been deemed “disappointing”, while Virid flies floods 19.7% thanks to the solid command book of its Geoscience activity.

A Wall Street

Across the Atlantic, the main indices are upholstered after data on online PCE inflation with expectations and with the change in NVIDIA.

At the end of the closing in Europe, the Dow Jones earns 0.65%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 0.69%and the Nasdaq Composite 0.81%.

NVIDIA, which was down at the opening, corrects and now displays an increase of 1.5%.

The indicators of the day

In Germany, retail sales increased by 0.2% in January over a month, show data published Friday by the Federal Statistics Office, while inflation increased by 2.8% over a year in February, while analysts were tabling on 2.7% .2

In France, salaried employment in the private sector fell 0.3% in annual shift in France, while household expenditure fell less than scheduled in January. The decline in the economy was confirmed at -0.1% in the fourth quarter, and inflation slowed down more than expected over one year in February thanks, in particular, to lower energy costs.

In the United States, consumer prices have advanced 2.5% in annual sliding, in accordance with analysts’ expectations.

Changes

The dollar is hesitant this Friday after the latest inflation data and consumer expenses in the United States, grappling 0.08% against a basket of reference currencies.

The euro is also quite stable, in small increases of 0.05% to 1.0401 dollars.

RATE

American bond yields are retreating to one of their lowest levels since 2021 after the American macroeconomic data.

The yield of ten -year -old Treasuries fell from 5.8 pb to 4.2292%and two years from 7.9 pb to 4.0012%.

OIL

The threat of customs duties does not spare the prices of oil, which drop out after Iraq has announced to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan region.

The Brent sold 1.26% to $ 73.11 per barrel and light American crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.11% to 69.57 dollars.

To follow the week of March 3:

The business ball will continue next week on both sides of the Atlantic. The customs duties promised by Donald Trump on Canada and Mexico will come into force on Tuesday, March 4.

(Some data may accuse a slight offset)

(Written by Pauline Foret)

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