by Mara Vilcu

(Reuters) – European scholarships finished down Friday after a session rich in economic data, including figures on employment in the United States, in business results and heckled by Donald Trump’s latest decisions in terms of customs duties.

In Paris, CAC 40 lost 2.91% to 7,546.16 points. In Frankfurt, the Dax abandoned 2.47% and in London, the FTSE 100 sold 0.70%.

The Eurostoxx 50 index fell 2.70%, the FTSEUROFITS 300 abandoned 1.92%and the Stoxx 600 lost 1.81%.

Over the week, the Stoxx 600 abandoned 2.50% and the CAC 40 lost 3.68%.

This Friday, the markets had several data to digest.

On the commercial front, the American administration presented an imposing decree of customs duties from 10% to 41% on imports from 69 countries on Friday. US President Donald Trump warned that partners who have not managed to conclude an agreement before Friday would see their property struck by greater surcharge.

Swiss manufacturers warned on Friday that tens of thousands of jobs were threatened after Donald Trump imposed on Switzerland one of the highest customs duties in his presidency.

With regard to economic data, the official employment report in the United States showed on Friday that post creations had been much lower than expectations in July, while that for June were revised in sharp decline.

“This report is quite disappointing (…) The markets are worried a little more about the job market situation following the report published today,” said Beichen Lin, chief strategist at Russell Investments.

After the publication of data, investors increased their bets on a drop in interest rates in September to 81.9%, according to the CME Fedwatch tool.

“Last year, the Fed made an error by not reducing its rates in July, so it had to catch up at its next meeting. She will probably have to do the same this year,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.

VALUES

The French insurance group AXA abandoned 7.85% after reporting a net profit below expectations for the first half of 2025. TP (ex-Teleperformance) lost 20.65% after the publication of its results in the first half.

Elsewhere in Europe, Daimler Truck Holding AG lost 8.71%, the German truck manufacturer who has revised down a key profit forecast for 2025 on Thursday evening, which constitutes the latest warning to a large name in the automotive sector in a commercial context marked by American customs duties.

Novo Nordisk lost 1.81% while Donald Trump sent a letter to pharmaceutical companies to exhort them to reduce the prices of medicines.

At Wall Street

At the end of the closure in Europe, exchanges at the New York Stock Exchange indicated a drop of 1.11% for the Dow Jones, 1.32% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 1.77% for the Nasdaq Composite.

Investors learned of Amazon’s results on Thursday, the group having communicated a sales forecast for the current quarter greater than expectations. However, the dematerialized IT division (“Cloud”) of the American giant, Amazon Web Services (AWS), was not up to expectations in the second quarter, during which its competitors did better than anticipated by Wall Street. The title of the American giant fell by 8.06%.

Changes

The dollar drops after the publication of American employment data in July.

The dollar lost 1.02% against a basket of reference currencies.

The euro gained 1.2% to $ 1.1552.

RATE

American yields drop strongly after the employment report which strengthens the probabilities of a new drop in interest rates by the Fed at its September meeting.

The yield of Treasuries at ten years abandons 12.1 base points at 4.2395%. The two years fell from 21.8 base points to 3.7330%.

The yield of the German Bund at ten years loses 1.1 base point at 2,6810%. The two years fell from 3.6 base points to 1,9100%.

OIL

Oil prices fall due to a possible increase in the production of OPEC and its allies on Sunday.

Brent fell 2.86% to 69.65 dollars per barrel and light American crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) abandoned 2.74% to 67.36 dollars.

To be continued on August 4: [L8N3TS109]

(Some data may accuse a slight offset)

(Written by Mara Vîlcu, edited by Kate Entringer)

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