(Paris) World stock markets rose very slightly on Friday, welcoming the stronger-than-expected slowdown in American inflation without movement because it confirms a scenario already favored by investors.
European stock markets finished around breakeven before closing for a long Christmas weekend. The Paris Stock Exchange finished at 7,568.82 points (-0.03%), Frankfurt gained 0.11% and Milan 0.26%.
The London Stock Exchange closed at 7:30 a.m. (Eastern time), like every last session before Christmas, and gained 0.04%.
European stock markets will not reopen until Wednesday, while the New York Stock Exchange will remain closed on Monday.
Around 12 p.m. (Eastern time) on Wall Street, the NASDAQ gained 0.31%, the S&P 500 0.30% and the Dow Jones 0.12%.
Inflation fell sharply in November in the United States, to 2.6% over one year, thus getting closer to the target of 2%, according to the PCE index, a gauge favored by the American Federal Reserve.
And October’s downward revision showed that inflation had actually already fallen below 3.0% year-on-year, to 2.9%.
The increase in the underlying index, excluding energy and food, is still above 3% but it has slowed more than expected to 3.2% year-on-year compared to 3.4% the previous month.
Consumer spending, household income and orders for durable goods increased, also surprising analysts. This confirms the robustness of consumption in the United States, the main engine of growth in the world’s largest economy.
“This report is the best economic news in a long time, and comes just in time for the holiday season,” said Robert Frick, economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.
It confirms the markets’ hopes for a soft landing for the economy, which would allow the American central bank to lower its rates next year.
For Valentine Ainouz, strategist and head of global bond strategy at the Amundi Investment Institute, “the Fed’s mantra of higher interest rates for longer is buried”.
The market reaction, however, is very measured because “it was very anticipated”, according to her.
For meme Ainouz, the current level of the markets corresponds to a situation of “rapid return of inflation to 2%, without recession” in the American economy.
On the bond market, interest rates on government borrowing are fairly stable around 11:55 a.m. (Eastern time). The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note stood at 3.91%, after finishing at 3.89% on Thursday.
Nike stumbles
Nike announced Thursday evening a plan of two billion dollars in savings as well as a downward revision of its annual sales forecasts. The sports giant saw uneven sales performance in the most recent quarter, up in China but down in the United States. A decline which is expected to continue, and which worries the markets.
The company’s stock lost 10.68% on Wall Street.
Prosus suffers the fall of Tencent
The Dutch investment fund specializing in technology Prosus (-13.38%) was penalized by the plunge of more than 12% in Tencent, after China’s announcement of new restrictions on online games.
Oil rebounds slightly, bitcoin falls
After falling on Thursday following Angola’s announcement of its withdrawal from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), oil prices are hesitant on Friday, in a context still marked by tensions in the Red Sea .
Around 11:55 a.m. (Eastern time), the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent, for delivery in February, fell 0.24%, to $79.20. Its American equivalent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), with maturity in January, lost 0.28%, to $73.69.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro was stable against the greenback at 1.1010 dollars per euro.
Bitcoin was down about 1% at $43,579.