by Claude Chendjou

Paris (Reuters) – European scholarships finished down Thursday and Wall Street was hesitant at mid -session, several major central banks who warned of an uncertain economic context.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a loss of 0.95% to 8,094.2 points. The British footsia fell 0.09% and the German Dax reflected by 1.18%.

The Eurostoxx 50 index lost 1.0% and the FTSEUROFIRST 300 0.41%. The Stoxx 600, allocated by profit holds in the bank compartment (-1.72%) and that of the industry (-1.03%), ended up with 0.43%.

At the time of the fence in Europe, the Dow Jones advances 0.17%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.04%and the Nasdaq by 0.14%, after having opened all three.

Eight of the eleven major sectors of the S&P 500 are in the green, with communication services (+0.40%) in mind, while accenture values ​​drops 7.40% after reporting contract cancellations in the United States, the Trump administration having decided to reduce federal expenses.

On the monetary level, the American Federal Reserve (FED), the Bank of England (BOE), the Swiss National Bank (BNS) and the central bank of Sweden (Riksbank) estimated, in their monetary policy, that the economy was now faced with great uncertainty linked to a risk of world war that could revive inflation. The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, said that a major trade war would weigh on activity.

“The Fed yesterday, the Riksbank, the BNS, the BOE today – the central banks are all faced with very strong data and with increasing geopolitical risks”, underlines James Rossiter, strategist at TD Securities.

“And the markets juggle all this with the same intensity. The conviction of the markets is low, just like that of the central banks (…) Everyone waits to see,” he added.

This wait -and -see attitude resulted in low variations in the equity markets, while the volatility indices at Wall Street and the Eurostoxx went upwards. Gold, active refuge, has registered a record, at 3.057.21 dollars an ounce.

Investors have nevertheless been a little reassured by the Fed “Dot Plot” and by the words of its president, Jerome Powell, according to which inflation due to customs duties could be “transient” and limited to this year.

“We believe that unemployment will be the ultimate referee,” predicts Tiffany Wilding, an economist at Pimco, believing that the Fed “will aggressively reduce its rates if the unemployment rate begins to increase.

On the geopolitical level, in the Gaza Strip, Israel continues its land operations, while Hamas has decided to retaliate. In Türkiye, new demonstrations were scheduled for Thursday after the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu. As for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, despite the principle of a cease-fire accepted by both camps, Kyiv bombed a strategic air base in Russia on Thursday, while Moscow continues its drone attacks.

Values ​​in Europe

BNP Paribas fell 2.05% while the first French bank intends to reduce its network of agencies in France by around one third by 2030, according to Les Echos.

Sodexo plunged 17.14% in reaction to the decline in its prospects for the 2025 exercise.

Valneva took 5.97% after saying to anticipate sales from 170 to 180 million euros for this year.

Esso climbed 13.95% after its annual results.

Deutsche Bank sold 2.03% while the German banking group will lay off nearly 2,000 people in 2025 via a “significant” reduction in the number of its branches.

RWE abandoned 3%, the electricity producer having announced his intention to reduce his investments in a context of uncertainty.

The indicators of the day

Unemployed registration increased in the United States last week to 223,000 against 221,000 (revised) the previous week, according to the Department of Labor.

The conditions of activity in the Philadelphia region deteriorated less than expected in March, with a Philly Fed index at 12.5 after 18.1 in February, shows the investigation of the local antenna of the Federal Reserve.

Production prices in Germany, a key indicator of inflation, increased by 0.7% over a year in February, according to the Federal Statistics Office.

Salaries in the United Kingdom increased by 5.9% over a year, the pace anticipated by consensus, over the three months to the end of January, according to the British statistical office.

Changes

The dollar is appreciated Thursday 0.40% against a basket of international currencies, but remains close to a hollow of five months, while only two decreases in Fed rates this year are currently anticipated by the markets.

The euro fell 0.51%, to 1.0844 dollars, while the pound sterling exchanges $ 1.2,963, with 0.28%withdrawal.

RATE

American bond yields are retreating due to the prudence of the Fed on economic prospects: the American ten years yields 3.3 base points, to 4.2235%.

The German Bund, the same, followed the trend, abandoning 1.8 points at the end, at 2.780%.

The French OAT at ten years old finished practically stable, at 3.472%, while Bercy wants to raise 5 billion euros in equity for defense companies. The gap between the Bund and the OAT is unchanged, at around 70 base points.

OIL

The oil market rises on Thursday while the United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran, aimed in particular, for the first time, an independent refinery, and ships that supply these processing factories in gross. Black gold is also supported by a larger reduction than expected of fuel stocks in the United States and that new tensions in the Near East.

Brent increased by $ 1.47% to $ 71.82 per barrel and light American crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) is added from 1.61% to $ 68.24.

To be continued Friday:

The situation on the markets

(Some data may accuse a slight offset)

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Sophie Louet)

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