PARIS (Reuters)-The main European scholarships are withdrawn Thursday with concerns about the situation in the Middle East and questions about the Sino-American framework agreement concerning trade.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.62% to 7,727.74 points around 07:30 GMT, after a decline of 0.36% on Wednesday. In London, the FTSE 100 refused 0.01%. In Frankfurt, the Dax abandons 0.70%.

The Eurostoxx 50 index yields 0.81% and the FTSEUROFIRST 300 0.42%. The Stoxx 600, which is on a fourth session in a row in the red, declines 0.62%.

The term contracts at Wall Street prefigure a drop of 0.20% for the Dow Jones, by 0.16% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.17% for the Nasdaq the day after a session in the red.

Appétit for risk is reduced while the United States is preparing a partial evacuation of its Embassy in Iraq due to increased security risks in the region, which made oil prices flambé.

The American special emissary, Steve Witkoff, is due to meet the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi on Sunday, in order to discuss the subject of the Iranian nuclear program.

On the Commerce Front, after the framework agreement in London between the United States and China, the American secretary to the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said on Wednesday that the American administration was ready to shift the deadline set to the partners of the United States who negotiate in good faith on customs duties.

On the indicators side, the British economy is contracted by 0.3% in April, a hollow of almost two years, due to customs duties, according to official data. In the United States, the market will read production prices (PPI) at 12:30 p.m. GMT for the month of May in the aftermath of the publication of ICC inflation which showed an unexpected slowdown last month.

In values, the technological sector in Europe (-0.80%) does not benefit from the annual forecasts of Oracle, whose action jumped by more than 7% in after-Bourse. Apart from energy (+0.94%) and the defensive sector of “utilities” (+0.19%), all the large compartments of the Stoxx 600 are in the red.

Totalnergies (+1.46%) leads the CAC 40 with the recent outbreak of oil prices in a context of geopolitical tensions. Reckitt advances 0.4%, sources having reported that the group of current consumer goods is in exclusive discussions with the International Advent-Investment Company for a transfer of its essential Home division.

Tesco takes 1.55%, the British distributor having announced a resumption of the growth of its underlying sales in the first quarter and a gain of market share on its competitors.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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