PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are on weak variations on Wednesday in a session without clear direction while investors continue to monitor the evolution of the situation in France, while gold, a safe haven asset, has exceeded 4,000 dollars an ounce.
In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.20% to 7,992.75 points around 07:20 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 rose by 0.32% and in Frankfurt, the Dax lost 0.03%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.04%, while the FTSEurofirst 300 rose by 0.16%. The Stoxx 600 gained 0.21%.
Futures contracts on Wall Street foreshadow virtual stability for the Dow Jones, the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Nasdaq the day after a session in the red marked by concerns about employment in the United States.
Across the Atlantic, investors are awaiting the minutes of the latest monetary policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. GMT, while the “shutdown” of the federal administration has entered its second week with no imminent solution in sight.
In this context, gold hit a record high at $4,021.22 per ounce, benefiting from investors’ appetite for assets deemed safe in the face of increased economic and geopolitical uncertainty and expectations of further interest rate reductions by the Fed.
Goldman Sachs raised its gold forecast on Monday, estimating that the yellow metal could reach $4,900 per ounce by December 2026.
In France, the situation remains worrying as a suspension of pension reform is now being considered and the resigning Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is on the last day of his consultations. A statement from Sébastien Lecornu is expected at 9:30 a.m.
On the bond market, the yield on the French ten-year OAT fell by almost three basis points, to 3.54%, but the yield gap between the German Bund and the ten-year OAT remains close to 85 basis points.
In terms of values, Renault fell by more than 1% despite the confirmation by Ampère, its electric vehicle and software subsidiary, of its cost reduction objectives.
Europe’s auto sector fell 1.52% while BMW fell 5.26%, with the German automaker lowering its profit forecast for this year on Tuesday due to weak growth in China and US tariffs.
The semiconductor sector in Europe (-0.86%) is also suffering after American elected officials called for a broader ban on sales of chip manufacturing equipment to China: ASML, ASM International and BESI are in the red.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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