by Diana Mandia

(Reuters) – European scholarships ended slightly down on Monday, doubts about US trade policy prevailing on a series of data showing signs of recovery from the private sector in Europe.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.26% to 8,022.33 points. In Frankfurt, the Dax fell 0.16% and in London, the FTSE 100 has 0.10%.

The Eurostoxx 50 index ended up on a drop of 0.14%, the FTSEUROFST 300 lost 0.15%and the Stoxx 600 abandoned 0.08%.

The European scholarships finished the session on a hesitant note, the main indices passing through the red during the day while the uncertainty concerning the American trade policy returned to the stage.

As April 2 approaches, the date scheduled for the entry into force of “reciprocal” customs duties announced by the American president Donald Trump, investors digest information published during the weekend according to which Washington’s approach could ultimately be more selective, in particular excluding a certain number of sectors.

President Donald Trump also promised investors on Friday to be flexible concerning commercial measures.

“The default position of today’s investor is to be very worried about the changes proposed by the administration – whether or not there are imposed customs duties, whether he repeals or delays them, that only causes extreme volatility on the market,” said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management in Boston.

The European scholarships had however welcomed the PMI data in the morning, which showed signs of resumption of the activity of the private sector in the euro zone, the sub-individual industrial production even returning to expansionary territory for the first time in two years.

The data includes less reassuring elements, as in the case of France, where the activity of the private sector has contracted for the seventh consecutive month in March, the confidence of companies in the second economy of the euro zone having dropped at its lowest level since April 2020.

On the geopolitical level, investors remain attentive to the discussions of the United States with Kyiv and Moscow to try to progress towards an outcome in the war in Ukraine, Washington seeking in particular to reach a cease-fire in the Black Sea allowing the free movement of ships.

VALUES

In Paris, Thales signed one of the best performance in the CAC 40 on Monday with a gain of 1.9%, after UBS noted its recommendation to “buy” neutral “on value, evoking a significant increase in the defense group should benefit from the increase in military budgets in Europe.

The luxury giant Kering fell 2.1% after several brokers, including Bernstein, JP Morgan and Oddo revised their forecasts for the first quarter.

The French Ubisoft video game manufacturer took 7.7%, helped by the good commercial launch of his new game “Assassin’s Creed Shadows”.

Elsewhere in Europe, Bayer lost 6.9% after being sentenced by a jury of the American state of Georgia to pay around 2.1 billion dollars (1.94 billion euros) to a complainant who accuses the Roundup, a herbicide, of having caused his cancer.

The German SAP software publisher (+1.3%) also became the first European market capitalization on Monday, exceeding the Danish health group Novo Nordisk (-1.3%).

A Wall Street

The New York Stock Exchange is clear on Monday, carried out in particular by technological values, encouraged by the hopes that the Trump administration adopts a measured approach to customs duties against its business partners.

At the time of the fence in Europe, the Dow Jones takes 1.19%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 increased by 1.58%and the Nasdaq Composite advances by 2.07%.

The car manufacturer Tesla increased by more than 10% after a gain of 5.3% during the previous session and while its action experienced recent turbulence related to the image of its director general Elon Musk, a close ally of the American president.

The indicators of the day

In addition to the PMI indexes in Europe, investors knew the PMI PMI preliminary investigation on Monday in the United States, which shows that if the activity of American companies has recovered at 53.5 in March against 51.6 in February, fears concerning customs duties and cuts in public spending continued to weigh on the climate and the prospects for the rest of the year.

Changes

The dollar is progressing after the publication of PMI data showing that US commercial activity has accelerated in March. The greenback is also supported by the hopes of more targeted American customs rights.

The dollar thus advances 0.31% in the face of a basket of reference currencies, while the euro, recently supported by spending plans in Germany, lost 0.25% to 1.0787 dollars.

RATE

Bond yields have slightly increased in the euro zone on Monday with PMI surveys, shared between commercial risks and the prospect of an increase in spending in Germany.

The yield of the German Bund at ten years took a little less than a basic point at 2.7760%. The two years fell slightly to 2,1290%.

In the United States, the prospect of more targeted American customs duties on imports has brought a certain relief in a context of fears about the resilience of the first world economy, which increases bond yields.

“They will be less severe, which means that the shock for the economy will be less, and that is the reason why the yield at 10 years increases,” Stan Shipley said bond strategist at Evercore ISI in New York.

The yield of Treasuries at ten years advances from 6.5 base points to 4.3172%. The two years takes 7.4 base points at 4.0219%.

OIL

Oil prices are growing while Donald Trump said he would impose 25% customs duties on countries buying oil and gas from Venezuela. Prices are also supported by new American sanctions on Iranian exports.

Brent takes 1% at $ 72.88 per barrel and light American crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) gained 1.07% at 69.01 dollars.

To be continued on March 25:

(Some data may accuse a slight offset)

(Written by Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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