(Paris) After several weeks of marked increase, the stock markets were victims of profit taking Thursday, against the backdrop of a rise in COVID-19 contaminations.
Europe ended in the red: Paris lost 0.21%, Frankfurt 0.18%, Milan 0.59% and London 0.48%, penalized by its oil and mining stocks.
Wall Street moved in scattered order: the Dow Jones gave up 0.21%, while the NASDAQ technology-colored index gained 0.26% and the S&P 500 0.21%, around 12:55 p.m.
Harry Wolhandler, director of equity management at Meeschaert Amilton AM, sees some profit taking on the New York Stock Exchange, although the market remains buoyed by good results.
“The multiplication of cases of COVID-19, including in countries where vaccination is well advanced” is a factor in this downward dynamic, he believes.
In the United States, new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the past seven days rose 12.7% from the previous week, according to data compiled by AFP. In Europe, the change is + 7%.
“However, there is no questioning of the upward trend”, continues the analyst, this consolidation being to be put into perspective “with the progress of vaccination and the drugs which have been recently developed”.
For Comdirect analyst Andreas Lipkow, “market players prefer to take profits after low Alibaba figures”.
“The Chinese technology group has indicated that the Chinese economy is slowing down markedly, and that this could leave traces in Alibaba’s balance sheet,” he adds.
The markets are also monitoring the evolution of oil prices, and information regarding a possible use of strategic reserves to moderate the rise in fuel prices which is contributing to the spike in inflation.
Among the indicators of the day, weekly claims for unemployment benefit in the United States came out a little disappointing, but remain at the lowest since the pandemic.
Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area rebounded in November, more strongly than expected.
What reinforce the voices which call for a monetary tightening faster than envisaged by the central banks, in order to counter inflation.
In the bond market, interest rates on European sovereign debt fell sharply.
The journey to the pain
Concerns about a new wave of COVID-19 contamination were spilling over to travel-related values.
In Paris, Air France-KLM lost 0.51% to 4.09 euros and Airbus 1.03% to 113.26 euros.
In Frankfurt, Lufthansa sold 2.96% to 6.19 euros and MRU Aero Engines 2.10% to 186.80 euros. The latter did not convince despite the announcement of an adjusted EBIT target above pre-crisis levels by 2024.
In New York, United Airlines fell 2.70% to 47.43 dollars and American Airlines 2.59% to 19.39 dollars.
Exceptional dividend at Royal Mail
The title of the British postal group climbed 9.75% to 481 pence. Royal Mail returned to the green in the first half of the year. It announces redistributing 400 million pounds to its shareholders via a share buyback program of 200 million and the rest in the form of an exceptional dividend.
Oil reserves monitored
Oil prices recovered after a decline observed at the start of European trading. The market is afraid of seeing an abundant supply coming from the strategic reserves of the United States, but also of China.
At around 12:50 p.m., the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for January delivery rose 0.67% to $ 80.82 after falling to $ 79.28, the lowest since early October. .
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the month of December lost 0.54% to 78.79 dollars, also at the lowest since the beginning of October.
On the euro and bitcoin side
The euro rose against the dollar after hitting a new low since July 2020 the day before. Around 12.50 p.m., the euro recovered 0.45% to $ 1.1370 per euro.
Bitcoin lost 3.93% to $ 57,750.