By Pauline Foret
(Reuters)-European scholarships finished mainly on Thursday after Donald Trump confirmed at a press conference that the United States had signed a trade agreement with the United Kingdom, a first since the American president announced the establishment of savory customs duties on most countries in the world.
In Paris, CAC 40 ended up 0.89% to 7,694.44 points. In Frankfurt, the Dax ended up a gain of 1.01% and in London, the FTSE 100 closed down 0.32%.
The Eurostoxx 50 index ended up 1.13%, the FTSEUROFRIFST 300 of 0.39%and the Stoxx 600 of 0.44%.
Donald Trump confirmed in a press conference that he had spent with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and having concluded a trade agreement qualified as “real breakthrough” by the American president.
According to Donald Trump, the agreement included the reduction of customs obstacles from the United Kingdom, privileged access to certain markets for American goods as well as the creation of an area free of customs duties for aluminum and steel, two sectors whose American president wants to protect local production. Customs duties in the automotive sector have also been reduced.
The Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lungick, nevertheless declared that the customs duties of 10% imposed on British exports remain in place.
This is the first agreement of this type since the announcement, at the beginning of April, of the implementation of customs duties on most of the trade partners of the United States. The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, must meet the Vice Prime Minister Chinese for a negotiation that the whole world will follow closely, China facing an unprecedented surcharge of 145%.
On the macroeconomic side, the Bank of England (BOE), as expected, lowered its main rate of 25 base points to 4.25%. However, the decision was not unanimous, only five of the nine members having spoken in favor of this reduction.
The British Footsie is the only index to close the session on a drop, investors having hoped that the BOE announces an acceleration of its rate reductions when it declared to adopt a “gradual and prudent” approach.
VALUES
The technological sector climbs with the hope of appeasement of global trade tensions, the pan -European index advancing by 1.5%.
Securitas gave way 5% after reporting less than expected of its operating profit in the first quarter.
AB INBEV gained 2.5% after having far exceeded expectations during its quarterly results.
A Wall Street
At the time of the fence in Europe, Wall Street evolves in the green, although most of the clues have erased part of their earnings since the start of the session. The Dow Jones advances 0.54%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 of 0.50%and the Nasdaq Composite of 0.69%.
On the values ​​side, Boeing takes 3% after the American secretary for trade Howard Lutnick said that the United Kingdom was going to announce an order of $ 10 billion (8.86 billion euros) from the American aircraft manufacturer.
The indicators of the day
In Germany, industrial production and exports increased more than expected in March, while imports fell unexpectedly.
In the United States, unemployed registration fell more than expected during the week to May 3, at 228,000 against 241,000 in the previous week, the Department of Labor announced on Thursday.
Changes
The dollar is strengthened, in particular against the Yen and the Swiss franc, the markets having been seen reassured by the conclusion of a trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.
The greenback earns 0.60% against a basket of reference currencies.
The Sterling book is also strengthened after the BOE’s decision to lower its key rate, winning 0.02% against the dollar and 0.36% against the euro.
For its part, the euro lost 0.21% to 1.1275 dollars.
RATE
American bond yields climb after the announcement of the American-British trade agreement.
The yield of Treasuries at ten years thus advances from 4.9 pb to 4.3238% and the two years of 5.6 pb to 3.8490%.
The yields of the German Bund at ten years and two years are stable, at 2,5200% and 1.7730% respectively.
British yields are increasing when investors have started from the principle that the BOE would announce an acceleration of its rate reductions, the Gilt to two years earning 6 bp to 3.87%.
OIL
Oil prices are increasing sharply on Thursday, carried out by the hope of appeasement of trade tensions between China and the United States, the two largest oil consumers in the world.
The Brent advances from 2.63% to 62.73 dollars per barrel and light American crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) from 2.94% to 59.78 dollars.
To be continued Friday:
On the indicators side, the Chinese trade balance for the month of April is expected in the morning, while Barclays and Commerzbank must publish their results.
The situation on the markets
(Some data may accuse a slight offset)
(Written by Pauline Foret, edited by Augustin Turpin)
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