(Paris) World stock markets are moving without a clear direction on Friday, after a week of gains and signs of slowing inflation in the United States.
In Europe, around 3:30 a.m. (Eastern time), Paris gained 0.21%, Frankfurt dropped 0.18%, London and Milan were in balance (+0.01%).
In Asia, Tokyo closed slightly lower.
The dynamic was different in China, where Hong Kong was still gaining 0.28% around 3:30 a.m. EST and poised for a nearly 6% jump over the past week as a whole. background of speculation around new aid from Beijing for the Chinese economy.
Global stock markets “are heading straight for their best weekly gains since November,” said John Plassad, investment specialist at Mirabaud.
Investors are delighted with the slowdown in inflation as well as the drop in producer prices in June in the United States, according to indicators published on Wednesday and Thursday.
These data reassure the markets, which are closely following the monetary policy decisions of the American central bank which, since March 2022, has been trying to bring inflation back to around 2% through rate hikes.
While the likelihood of another 25 basis point rate hike from the US central bank (Fed) at the next July meeting “hasn’t changed much, the odds of another hike occurring beyond are now less certain,” continues Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
In addition, “Jim Bullard, one of the members of the American central bank (Fed) most favorable to a restrictive monetary policy, resigned yesterday”, underlines the analyst.
However, a senior Fed official, Christopher Waller, said Thursday that he was in favor of two further interest rate hikes, one in July and the other before the end of the year.
Nokia picks up
Finnish telecom equipment giant Nokia issued a profit warning on Friday, lowering its sales and operating margin forecasts for 2023 in the face of a slowdown in its main market, the construction of 5G networks.
Listed in Helsinki, the group dropped 6.86% around 3:30 a.m. (Eastern time).
Ericsson in the red at 2T
On the side of the Swedish telecom equipment giant, Ericsson, the group recorded a net loss of 600 million crowns (around 52 million euros) against a profit of 4.7 billion crowns in the second quarter of 2022, according to its quarterly report. He also announced an unexpected operational loss in the face of a sluggish 5G network market.
In Stockholm, Ericsson was dropping more than 7% around 3:30 a.m. EST.
Investigation against Barry Callebaut
The internal regulatory authority of the Swiss Stock Exchange announced on Friday the opening of an investigation against cocoa supplier Barry Callebaut for violation of publication rules.
The investigation relates to a potential violation regarding the publication of regulated information, which could influence its share price. In November 2022, the Zurich group posted its annual results online a day before the scheduled publication date.
In Zurich, the group’s share fell nearly 2% around 3:30 a.m. (Eastern time).
Siemens invests one billion euros in Germany
The industrial giant Siemens (+0.06% in Frankfurt) announced Thursday an investment of one billion euros in Germany to modernize its production capacities, its boss warning at the same time that the first European economy was becoming less attractive.
Oil down
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in September fell 0.19% to 81.20 dollars around 3:20 a.m. (Eastern time) and its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI ) for August delivery, was down some 0.14% at $76.78.
Bitcoin at a high level
Friday, around 3:20 a.m. (Eastern time), bitcoin dropped 0.26% to 31,304 dollars after having reached its highest level in thirteen months the day before.
On Thursday, the publication of a judgment contrary to the American market regulator, the SEC, in which some see a favorable precedent for cryptocurrencies, pushed bitcoin as high as $31,818 on Thursday, a first since the beginning of June 2022.