(Paris) European stock markets moved higher after digesting the strong speech of the Fed, turning now to US employment figures in the hope of a sign of slowdown in the US economy.
Posted at 6:39
On the Old Continent, around 9:15 a.m., Paris took 1.13%, Frankfurt 0.90% and London 0.93%. Only Milan fell by 0.16%, after starting in the green.
In Asia, the flagship Nikkei index dropped 1.68% to 27,199.74 points, the day after a public holiday in Japan. Conversely, the Hang Seng jumped 5.36% as investors wanted to believe fresh rumors about a possible relaxation of China’s strict “zero COVID-19” policy.
“So far speculation has been based only on rumors on social media, with China’s foreign ministry saying it is unaware,” said Victoria Scholar, an analyst at Interactive Investor.
In the markets, “focus is now on the official October jobs report later today, as well as the US Consumer Price Index report next week,” says CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
The day before, investors unsurprisingly welcomed the interest rate hike of an additional 75 basis points from the US Central Bank (Fed) but their hopes of a lull were dashed, the Fed announcing that interest rates will be maintained at a higher level and for a longer period than expected.
“Unfortunately, the only thing that could lift investors’ spirits would be very poor indicators. As long as the US economy remains resilient, “the Fed will maintain a firm monetary policy to try to contain inflation, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst at Swissquote.
Regarding the official employment figures for October, analysts bet on the creation of 220,000 jobs against 263,000 in September and a slight increase in the unemployment rate to 3.6%.
“It is this part of the economy that is currently causing the Fed a problem by being far too aggressive. It is paradoxical, but without an increase in the unemployment rate, the American monetary institution believes that its monetary normalization still does not have the expected effects on the economy,” explains John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud.
The dispersed banks
The Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena fell in Milan by more than 14% to 1.58 euros, after announcing Thursday evening a capital increase of 2.5 billion euros to strengthen its equity and finance its strategic plan 2022 -2026, which provides for up to 4,000 voluntary departures to reduce costs.
Among the investors, the French insurer Axa, which participated to the tune of 200 million euros in the capital increase, lost in Paris 1.33% to 25.52 euros at 5:10 a.m. EDT.
Societe Generale took 5.89% to 24.89 euros, after publishing results better than expected by analysts.
Miners are popular
Mining stocks pulled the London Stock Exchange, particularly Anglo American (+7.02% to 2,842 pence) and Rio Tinto (+5.09% to 4,914 pence).
In Paris, ArcelorMittal took +4.42% and Eramet 5% around 5:10 a.m. EDT.
On the side of currencies and commodities
The euro gained 0.30% against the greenback at 0.9779 dollars. The pound gained 0.67% to $1.1234 around 5:05 a.m. EDT.
The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for January delivery climbed around 5:05 a.m. EDT by 2.07% to 96.63 dollars, that of American WTI for December delivery by 2.29% to 90.19 dollars.
The price of European natural gas rose by 0.36%, to 125,900 euros per megawatt hour.
Bitcoin gained 1.79% to $20,600.