(Paris) Fear resurfaced on the financial markets where the banking sector continued to lose feathers on Friday despite the reassuring declarations of political leaders concerning the stability of the financial system.
In Europe, places fell by 1.74% in Paris, 1.66% in Frankfurt, 1.26% in London after a first part of the week in the green following the disaster takeover of Credit Suisse by its rival. UBS.
“Uncertainty spreading through markets” has led “the banking industry to dump all of its year-to-date gains in the space of three weeks,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
The expert sees “no clear catalyst” to explain the day’s bearish move “other than uncertainties regarding the prospect of future rate hikes and the effects this may have on financial stability” and the rest of the economy. economy.
The impact of the rise in interest rates could penalize the most fragile banks and raise fears of new bankruptcies after those of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States, then of two other American regional banks this month. this.
“These concerns appear to have reached a tipping point before the weekend,” Hewson said.
The banking sector of the broader Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 3.53%, after a sharp increase in the cost of default risk insurance (CDS) of several European banks, Deutsche Bank in the lead.
Bruised, the first German bank unscrewed by 8.53% after having sunk more than 13%. Commerzbank dropped 5.45% in Frankfurt.
In Paris, Societe Generale shares fell 6.13%, the largest drop in the CAC 40 index, BNP Paribas lost 5.27%. In London, Standard Chartered fell by 6.42%, but also Barclays (-4.21%) or Natwest (-3.58%).
This is despite recent moves by central banks to improve access to liquidity and efforts to restore confidence in the banking system.
The statements of Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, reaffirming the resilience of the banking system which “has solid positions in terms of capital and liquidity”, and those reassuring of Olaf Scholz or Emmanuel Macron, do not have not been able to calm the spirits.
“The euro zone is the zone where the banks are the strongest”, affirmed the French president, while the German chancellor judged that there is “no need to worry” for Deutsche Bank.
In Zurich, Credit Suisse fell 5.19% and UBS 3.55%. According to Bloomberg, these banks are among those suspected by American justice of having helped Russian oligarchs to circumvent Western sanctions. Contacted by AFP, Credit Suisse declined to comment on the information and UBS did not respond.
US indices were moving more calmly: the Dow Jones and the broader S index
In New York, the sector was also neglected, but to a lesser extent: JP Morgan Chase lost 2.01%, Morgan Stanley 2.69%, Goldman Sachs 1.01% and Bank of America 0.19%. The regional bank First Republic, particularly under pressure since the bankruptcy of SVB, grabbed 0.24% around 1 p.m. (Eastern time).
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will bring together the country’s financial regulators on Friday, including Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell.
The bond market once again acted as a safe haven for investors: the yield on 10-year US government bonds stood at 3.37%, compared to 3.42% the day before closing.
Another safe haven, the dollar rose 0.68% against the euro, to 1.075 dollars for one euro.
Oil prices also fall, which is often a sign that investors fear an economic recession. The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May lost 1.37% to 74.88 dollars, while the barrel of American WTI at the same maturity fell by 1.10% to 69.19 dollars.
