(Paris) European stock markets rebounded on Thursday, without however managing to make up for their heavy losses the day before, and Wall Street was well oriented after the ECB kept its word on its rate hike, while initiating a change of pace .
European markets recovered strongly at the end of the session, after the press conference by the President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde. Paris ended up 2.03%, returning to 7,000 points, Frankfurt by 1.57%, London by 0.87%, Milan by 1.38%. Over the week, they still lost between 2.7% and 5%.
The movement came from index heavyweights, such as luxury in France. The Eurostoxx 50 index thus gained 2.03% while the Eurostoxx 600 gained only 1.19%.
The European banking sector index (Stoxx 600 Banks) recovered 1.17% after falling more than 7% on Wednesday.
After a lower opening, the American markets also changed color: the Dow Jones gained 0.98%, the S&P 500, 1.48%, and the NASDAQ index, with strong technological coloring, 2.00% around 1 p.m. 3 p.m. (Eastern time).
The European Central Bank did not allow itself to be frightened by the risk of a new banking crisis and decided on Thursday for a new rate hike of half a point in order to fight inflation, judging that the banks of the zone euro were solid and “resilient”.
“The expected rise is accompanied by language precautions regarding the risks to financial stability,” summarizes Axel Botte, international strategist for Ostrum AM.
The guardians of the euro remained cautious on the continuation of the monetary tightening and abandoned their commitment to raise rates further “significantly” in the months to come. The Frankfurt institution lowered its inflation forecasts for 2023 and 2024, thanks to the fall in the price of raw materials.
However for core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, forecasts are “less optimistic […] hence the reason to keep moving forward at an accelerated pace” for Dave Chappell, manager of Columbia Threadneedle Investments.
On the bond market, rates rose a little, but remained very far from their pre-crisis level, a sign that investors believe that central banks will go less far in monetary tightening.
Pressure on banks continues
After the worst session in its history on Wednesday, Credit Suisse rebounded thanks to the insurance of support from the Swiss Central Bank and a massive loan to strengthen its liquidity. The action recovered 19.15%, without compensating for the fall of nearly 25% the day before. Over the week, the action fell by another 19.88%.
The Swiss federal government is to hold a special meeting on Thursday devoted to the Swiss banking giant.
Apart from Credit Suisse, some European banks remained under pressure such as Société Générale (-1.21%), Deutsche Bank (-1.29%), even if Unicredit took 2.72% and Barclays 2.99%.
But concerns persisted for regional US banks, under pressure since the Silicon Valley Bank collapse last week. This situation presented a “serious risk of contagion”, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday.
The action of the First Republic bank, which plunged up to 36% at the start of the session, however, rose spectacularly and even gained 10% after American media reported on the possible intervention of large American banks to help the economy. regional establishment.
On the side of currencies and oil
The euro recovered against the dollar. The single currency gained 0.41% to $1.0620 around 12:45 p.m. (Eastern Time).
Oil prices lacked conviction, after hitting a low since the end of 2021 the previous day. Around 12:40 p.m. (Eastern time), a barrel of American WTI rose 0.74% to 68.11 dollars, and a barrel of Brent from the North Sea 0.76% to 74.25 dollars.