(Paris) European stock markets are clearly in the green on Friday, satisfied with the slowdown in inflation in the euro zone, which is following the anticipated trajectory.
The European stock markets rose sharply around 7:35 a.m.: Paris gained 1.05%, Frankfurt 1.08%, London 0.71%, Milan 1.20%. Over the week, all are up.
The euro zone’s annual inflation rate continued to fall in June, falling to 5.5% from 6.1% in May, thanks to a sharp decline in energy prices, Eurostat announced on Friday.
The figure is slightly better than analysts polled by Bloomberg had expected a rate of 5.6%.
“Not only has the headline rate fallen more than expected, but the slight rebound in underlying inflation – largely due to unfavorable base effects – has been weaker than expected,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at Oanda.
“European Central Bank officials are not going to rest on their laurels, but with inflation expected to continue to fall in the coming months…we may well see a pause in interest rate hikes before the fourth quarter,” he continues.
Elsewhere, the unemployment rate in the euro zone remained stable in May at 6.5% of the working population, at an all-time low as in April, according to data published Friday by Eurostat, another sign of resistance. economy.
Investors are now waiting for the US PCE indicator at 8:30 a.m., the US central bank’s preferred thermometer for tracking price action.
Wall Street is in good shape ahead of this indicator: futures for all three major indices point to an open up between 0.3% and 0.5%.
In Asia, the Shanghai Stock Exchange rose 0.62%, but Hong Kong fell 0.09%. On the second quarter, both have negative performances, including -7.27% for Hong Kong.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down 0.14%, which does not call into question the sharp increase in the quarter (18.36%) and since the start of the year (27.19%). Japanese corporate prices are notably supported by the weakness of the yen: the dollar hit 145 yen on Friday, its highest since November. By 7:30 a.m. EST, it was back to 144.66 yen.
Interest rates on government bonds in Europe and the United States, which rose sharply on Thursday following the upward revision of American growth, kept their upward trend, but in a less assertive way.
The American sports equipment manufacturer Nike recorded a sharp drop in its quarterly net profit (-28% to 1 billion dollars), under the effect of markdowns to reduce its inventories and cost increases, despite a turnover in rise.
The stock was down 2.90% in pre-trade electronic trading. In Frankfurt, its competitor Adidas took 2.26% and Puma 2.14%.
Oil prices were stable on Friday to end the week up slightly, despite a sharp decline at the start of the week, as declines in commercial reserves took precedence over concerns for the global economy.
A barrel of Brent (0.01%) cost $74.35 around 7:30 a.m. (Eastern time) and that of American WTI fell 0.14% to $69.76.
The euro edged down 0.11% to $1.0853.
Bitcoin was up 1.22% at $30,770.