by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – European scholarships finished on small variations Thursday after a deluge of contrasting results of companies, while Wall Street was in the green at mid -session after economic indicators deemed favorable and pending the decision of monetary policy of the American Federal Reserve (FED).

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended on a gain of 0.06% to 7,861.96 points after a session in jet of saw marked in particular by the variously appreciated results of Hermès. The British Footsie advanced 0.01% and the German Dax increased by 0.23%.

The Eurostoxx 50 index won 0.26% and the FTSEUROFirst 300 0.02%. The Stoxx 600 lost 0.02%.

At the time of the fence in Europe, the Dow Jones is stable, the Standard & Poor’s 500 takes 0.16% and the NASDAQ 0.39% while waiting for the results of Microsoft and Meta Platformms.

The American stock market indices are reassured by two statistics showing the resilience of the economy: the monthly survey of the ADP firm which showed that the private sector had created more jobs than expected in July and the preliminary gross domestic figures (GDP) of the second quarter which show 3% growth in annualized pace over the period, against +2.4% provided by the consensus reuters.

These data are published while the market awaits the Fed monetary policy decision at 6:00 p.m. GMT which should once again opt for the status quo on its rates. After the American indicators of the day, the operators reduced their anticipations on a drop in Fed rates in September with a probability going from 64% to 57%, according to the CME Fedwatch barometer.

In Canada, the Central Bank (BOC) also, as expected, maintained its main key rate at 2.75%on Wednesday, while noting that the risk of aggravation of the trade war in the world had decreased.

As the deadline of August 1 approaches, investors, however, continue to monitor trade negotiations between the United States and China, while US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to impose 25% from exports from India from Friday.

“The impact of customs duties cannot be overlooked, even if the recent agreements have brought more clarity,” notes Mark Haefele, director of investments at UBS Global Wealth Management.

Values in Europe

Many results have animated exchanges in Europe, starting with Hermès which fell by 4.54% despite an increase of 9% of its quarterly sales. According to analysts, some signs show that the group is not completely safe from a broader slowdown in the luxury sector.

Capgemini reflected 1.11% after tightening its target of annual turnover.

Danone jumped 7.35% after exceeding expectations in the second quarter, brought by demand in China for childhood milks and health -oriented products.

On the SBF120, Imerys accused the highest drop with a decline of 15.11% after its results and forecasts.

In the rest of Europe, Adidas abandoned 11.53%, the German sports equipment supplier having indicated that the American customs duties had had an impact of several tens of millions of euros in the second quarter.

Aston Martin lost 9.71% after a warning on its annual results linked to customs duties.

The German manufacturer Mercedes-Benz fell 3.42% after estimating the impact of customs duties at almost $ 420 million.

BAE Systems declined by 1.97% despite the upward revision of its annual profit forecast.

The Dutch manufacturer of IMCD specialty chemicals plunged 12.49% after the publication of its quarterly results, weighing on the chemistry index (-1.75%).

In the bank, UBS increased by 1.11% in favor of the announcement of a more than doubled quarterly profit, while HSBC Holdings reflected by 4.53% after having published a profit before taxes in the first half of expectations. The banking index on the Stoxx 600 took 0.41%.

The indicators of the day

The economy of the euro zone increased against all expectations in the second quarter, by 0.1% compared to the previous three months, shows the first estimate of the gross domestic product (GDP) published by Eurostat.

The German economy contracted by 0.1% in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to official data, due to the slowdown in demand from the United States after several months of supported purchases in the anticipation of American customs duties.

The French economy accelerated its increase in the second quarter, by 0.3%, carried in particular by a rebound in household consumption, shows the first estimate of INSEE.

The economic feeling in the euro zone has improved more than expected in July according to data published by the European Commission.

Changes

The dollar takes 0.59% in the face of a basket of reference currencies, after solid data on American GDP and before the Fed announcements.

The euro fell 0.67%, to 1.1469 dollars, accentuating its losses against the dollar following the publication of American GDP figures. The European single currency is heading for a fifth consecutive session of decline and having been exchanging at its lowest level since June 23.

RATE

The yield of American treasury bills at ten years rises from 4.4 base points, to 4.372%, supported by the solid American economic indicators.

The yield of the German Bund at ten years followed the trend, taking 1.6 base points, at 2.706%, while the one at two years advanced by 2.4 points, to 1.939%

The yield gap between the Bund and the OAT at ten years remains around 70 base points.

OIL

The oil market is growing on Wednesday as investors assess Donald Trump’s position towards Russia and its customs duties on countries that market Russian oil.

Brent took 0.86% at $ 73.15 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 1.16% to $ 70.01.

To be continued Thursday:

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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