Global stock markets are wary of inflation

(Paris) World stock markets rose modestly on Friday, despite a jump in technology in Asia, remaining cautious about inflation even if economists seem partly reassured by the debates within the American Central Bank.

Posted at 6:19 a.m.

Europe opened timidly: Frankfurt took 0.17%, Paris 0.36%, Milan 0.43% while London lost 0.18% around 3:25 a.m. The Ascension Bridge in Germany and France should further significantly reduce trading volumes.

In Asia, the markets were driven by good results in the technology sector: Tokyo gained 0.66% and Shanghai 0.23%. Hong Kong posted the biggest rise, with the Hang Seng index rising 2.29% around 3:15 a.m.

“The Chinese authorities have deployed monetary and fiscal measures to support businesses and stimulate demand,” recalls John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud. But “the real impact of these measures could be limited if the country’s strict zero-COVID-19 policy remains unchanged”, he adds.

The Chinese Prime Minister also estimated on Thursday that his country’s economy was at a “critical moment”, in the grip of difficulties “even greater than in 2020” in the face of COVID-19.

The lockdowns in China add to an already long list of ills for the global economy between the war in Ukraine and the inflation that continues to monopolize investors’ attention.

Partly reassured Thursday by the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting of the American Federal Reserve (Fed), they will monitor the publication of the PCE index for April in the United States, the indicator favored by the monetary institution to monitor inflation.

After steadily increasing its key rates in recent months, the Fed hinted that the next bursts would not exceed 50 basis points when some feared a faster and more violent tightening with increases of 75 basis points.

“Some members [de la Fed, NDLR] think price pressure won’t get much worse and Atlanta Fed Chairman Raphael Bostic has even suggested that, with economic indicators having taken a step back, the central bank could take a break from its rate hikes. rates in September,” says Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst at Swissquote Bank.

But the rise in energy prices “casts a shadow over recent optimism, maintaining inflation fears, as they are one of the main reasons for its soaring”, she adds, evoking the high prices of a barrel of crude in a context of increased demand with the approach of the major movements of the summer.

Technology takes off in Asia

Investors flocked to Asian tech heavyweights, including e-commerce giant Alibaba (+11.65%) and search engine Baidu (+14.78%), which reported better-than-expected growth .

These strong results eased investor concerns about the impact on the industry of China’s health measures and inflation.

The news boosted other tech companies in Hong Kong, JD.com (+4.76%) and Meituan (+2.21%), while Tencent gained more than 1.80%. In Europe, Capgemini took 0.95%, Soitec 0.86% and STMicroelectronics 0.49%.

On the side of oil and bitcoin

Oil prices were holding around $115 amid a bridge weekend that will mark the start of the travel season, with fuel demand ramping up.

Around 3:15 a.m. the price of a barrel of American WTI saw a slight drop of 0.27% to 113.78 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea lost 0.24% to 117.12 dollars.

The euro traded for 1.0743 dollars against 1.0745 dollars the day before.

Bitcoin was down 1.89% at $28,881.


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