(New York) European stock markets closed higher on Friday before the announcement of the postponement of the reopening of the Nord Stream gas pipeline freezes the markets still open, first and foremost Wall Street, which ended the week in the red.
Updated yesterday at 5:14 p.m.
The Dow Jones lost 1.07%, the NASDAQ index, 1.31%, and the broader S&P 500 index, 1.07%. The NASDAQ chained, on this occasion, a sixth consecutive session of decline, a sequence more seen for more than three years.
“You can make a direct link between the Gazprom news” and the (North American) market downturn, pointed out Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com. “It adds a factor of uncertainty. »
The group announced on Friday the extension of the shutdown of Nord Stream, which provides most of Europe’s supplies of Russian gas, citing the need to repair a faulty turbine.
The pipeline was originally scheduled to resume deliveries on Saturday, after three days of maintenance.
“Europe is already in a weakened economic situation, so the markets clearly see (in this news) an aggravating factor,” explained Bill Northey, of US Bank Wealth Management.
The news swept away the optimism displayed earlier on Friday after the release of the monthly US jobs report said 315,000 jobs were added in August, significantly less than July’s 526,000 new positions.
“These figures are neither too good nor too bad, which pleases the markets. They validate the scenario of the “soft landing” (soft landing, editor’s note) of the economy” aimed at by the American central bank (Fed), explains Alexandre Neuvy, manager of Amplegest.
The report had pleased European markets, which closed before Gazprom’s announcement. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange rebounded 3.33%, that of Milan by 2.91%, both managing to progress over the whole week, unlike Paris (+2.21% on Friday) and London (+1 .86%).
The cyclics sought
Cyclical stocks, the most sensitive to economic conditions and which have recently fallen, were in demand this time: in the German automotive sector, the group with twelve brands Volkswagen (+6.69%) and its majority shareholder Porsche (+4 .93%) led the race, ahead of expected details regarding the planned IPO this fall of luxury car subsidiary Porsche AG. In Paris, Renault took 3.47%.
Banking stocks were also sought before the rate hike which will be decided by the ECB next Thursday, such as Commerzbank (+6.62%) and Deutsche Bank (+5.45%).
oil is rising
Oil prices ended higher on Friday, but their momentum was limited by the announcement of the extension of the shutdown of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which raised fears for the European economy and the demand for black gold.
The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea oil for October delivery rose 0.71% to close at $93.02.
The price of a barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also for delivery in October, took 0.30%, to 86.87 dollars.
The euro was halted in its tracks by news from Nord Stream and only posted a gain of 0.11% to 0.9957 dollars per euro.
Bitcoin lost 0.65% to $19,921.