(Paris) European stock markets are falling on Monday, weighed down by the surge in oil prices while the American Federal Reserve (Fed) will speak on Wednesday on the continuation of its monetary tightening policy intended to curb inflation.
Around 7:50 a.m. ET, Paris was down 1.26%, Frankfurt was down 0.88% and London was down 0.48%.
In Asia, the Hong Kong index lost 1.39% while Shanghai advanced 0.26%. The Tokyo Stock Exchange remained closed due to a public holiday.
Wall Street was headed for a lower open, with futures for the three major indexes hovering between -0.06% and -0.36%.
“Market players are currently paying particular attention to the evolution of oil prices,” which have increased sharply, which is likely to fuel inflation, underlines Andreas Lipkow, independent analyst.
This is additional data to take into account for the central banks, several of which are due to meet this week, starting with the American Federal Reserve (Fed).
At the end of its meeting on Wednesday, the powerful monetary institution will announce whether it has decided to keep its rates unchanged in September, as hoped by the markets.
“The Fed is widely expected to keep rates steady,” report economists at Oxford Economics.
However, “the door should remain open to a possible additional increase” for the next meeting “given the resilience still demonstrated by the economy”, nuance Sebastian Paris Horvitz, director of research at Banque Postale AM.
Analysts at the British bank Barclays estimate, for example, that the monetary policy committee “will raise 25 basis points in November and maintain rates until September 2024,” according to a note published Monday.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro advanced timidly (0.08%) against the dollar, at 1.0666 dollars per euro.
And on the bond market, pressure remained significant on government borrowing, the cost of which was approaching its highest level of the year, in the United States, at 4.34% around 7:55 a.m. (CST). Est), than in France at 3.24% for the 10-year maturity.
Oil prices remain higher on Monday and approach the $95 mark, still driven by fears of a large market deficit with voluntary cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia and the resilience of the request.
Analysts are now talking about the possibility of a barrel of 100 dollars.
Around 7:50 a.m. ET, a barrel of North Sea Brent for November delivery was up 0.46% at $94.36, after peaking as high as $94.78.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in October, gained 0.51% to 91.23 dollars, shortly after touching 91.70.
The two crude oil benchmarks reached new highs since November on Monday. Since the end of June, Brent has soared by around 25% and US WTI by 29%.
Societe Generale shares plunged at the start of the session on Monday, after the bank unveiled its strategic plan, the first since Slawomir Krupa took over the reins of the establishment.
Around 7:50 a.m. (Eastern time), Societe Generale shares plunged 11% to 23.57 euros on the Paris Stock Exchange.
The Swiss group Lonza, one of the major suppliers to pharmaceutical laboratories, surprised Monday by announcing the departure of its general director, Pierre-Alain Ruffieux, for “the end of September” and is embarking on the search for a successor.
This surprise departure is not the first unexpected departure. Already in 2019, the former boss was dismissed less than nine months after taking charge. The stock was down more than 10% around 7:50 a.m. ET.
