(Paris) World stock markets fell for the third consecutive day on Thursday, still marked by the determination of the US Federal Reserve to reduce its monetary support.
Posted at 12:18 p.m.
After spending part of the session in the green, Paris finally fell by 0.57%, Frankfurt by 0.52% and London by 0.47%.
Wall Street was also down: the Dow Jones yielded 0.58%, the S&P 500 0.55% and the NASDAQ 1.02% around 3:55 p.m. GMT.
On the contrary, the Fed’s position caused bond market rates to rise further, with the rate for the US 10-year loan rising to 2.630%, while the German 10-year reached 0.662%.
The day after the publication of the “minutes” of the Fed, the minutes of the last monetary meeting, “investors are still digesting” the measures which should be taken during the next meeting of the institution, estimates Michael Hewson, CMC Markets analyst.
The American central bank wishes to accelerate its monetary tightening by planning to intensify the increases in its key rates over the coming months and to start reducing its balance sheet as of May, by selling financial assets that it has massively purchased to support markets at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
The Fed had started, at its meeting last month, to raise its rates, but had opted for a more modest increase, of only a quarter of a percentage point, a choice motivated by the context of the war in Ukraine.
Oil below $100
Oil prices lost ground again on Thursday, after plummeting more than 5% the day before, with the use of IEA members’ strategic black gold reserves to lower pressure on prices.
Around 3:30 p.m. GMT, a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in June lost 1.87% to 99.11 dollars.
A barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in May yielded 1.34% to 94.90 dollars.
The euro was stable against the dollar at 1.0906 dollars (+0.09%) for one euro.
Bitcoin was down 1.30% at $43,310.
Shell expects Russia-related write-downs and charges
British oil giant Shell lost 2.23% after warning that its withdrawal from activities in Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine would lead to 4 to 5 billion dollars in write-downs and charges in its results for the first quarter, which will be published on May 5.
BP also lost 0.91%, Eni 1.06% and TotalEnergies 1.62%, weighed down in particular by the decline in oil prices.
Warren Buffett puts his mark on HP
HP jumped 16.20% after the announcement of a stake in Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett’s holding company has acquired 11.4% of the capital of the computer and printer manufacturer.
The billionaire’s investment fund invested $4.2 billion worth of shares in HP in several deals this week.