(Paris) Stock markets moved without a clear direction on Wednesday, remaining cautious in the face of persistent high inflation in the United Kingdom, high interest rates and rather mixed corporate results.
Wall Street was down slightly: around 11:50 a.m. (Eastern time), the Dow Jones fell 0.32%, the S & P500 0.23% and the NASDAQ 0.24%.
In Europe, the financial centers ended in dispersed order: Paris took 0.21%, Frankfurt 0.08%, but London fell 0.13%.
Inflation slowed slightly in March in the UK, but remains above 10%, driven by food bills. Its decline is more modest than the forecasts of economists, who expected to see it fall back below the two-digit threshold.
The publication “has caused a shock wave, as it is significantly stronger than expected, almost a percentage point higher than the Bank of England’s forecast given in February. January’s decline seems an illusion to those expecting a sharper slowdown in inflation,” comments Stephen Innes of Spi AM.
As a result of this publication, British government bond rates increased significantly: the ten-year rate rose to 3.84% against 3.75% the previous day and the two-year rate stood at 3.80% against 3. 68% Tuesday evening.
In the United States, rates continued to rise, with the interest rate on the 10-year loan rising from 3.58% to 3.63%.
The Bank of England should not be the only one to raise its rates next month since, according to the consensus, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) should do the same to continue their fight against inflation.
Rising prices, which central banks have been tackling for more than a year, remain a concern in food and services even though headline inflation is decelerating in the United States and the euro zone.
Netflix wants to diversify
Netflix set out to convince the market that its transition to more varied and more finely calibrated subscriptions would be profitable in the long term. The platform gained fewer subscribers than expected by the market and the action fell by 3.63%.
Relief on US regional banks
The regional bank Western Alliance, which suffered particularly in March during the banking crisis, jumped 15.63% on Wall Street after its results. Pacwest gained 7.14% and First Republic 2.30%.
US investment bank Morgan Stanley saw its net profit slide 20% in the first quarter and its stock fell 0.65%.
United Airlines sees a bright horizon
The American airline United Airlines lost 194 million dollars in the first quarter, nearly ten times less than last year, but is betting on strong demand for plane tickets for the future. Investors seemed reassured and the stock rose 4.34%.
On the side of currencies and oil
The pound gained 0.10% against the dollar (to 1.2437 dollars) around 11:45 a.m. (Eastern time).
Oil prices continued to fall, as fears of a further hike in key rates in the United States, which could weigh on demand for crude oil, overshadow the Chinese economic recovery.
Around 11:40 a.m. (Eastern time), a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in June slid 1.25% to 83.71 dollars.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in May, dropped 1.35% to 79.77 dollars.
Bitcoin dropped 3.80% to $29,270.