(Paris) European stocks are moving in scattered order on Friday, after a week of gains and signs of slowing inflation in the United States, the market hoping that the American central bank will not go beyond a last increase in its key rate.
In Europe, around 6:50 a.m., Paris gained 0.32% and London 0.18%, while Frankfurt dropped 0.24% and Milan 0.02%.
Wall Street was heading for a mixed open according to futures for all three major indexes. The Dow Jones gained 0.19%, while the S
In Asia, Tokyo closed slightly lower. Hong Kong gained 0.33%, jumping 5.71% for the week as a whole, on speculation about Beijing’s further aid to the Chinese economy.
Global equities, as measured by the MCSI World index, are thus experiencing their best week since the end of March.
Investors are pleased with the slowdown in inflation as well as lower 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 U.S. 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.
However, a senior Fed official, Christopher Waller, on Thursday said he favored two further interest rate hikes, one in July and the other before the end of the year.
Swedish telecoms equipment giant Ericsson announced second-quarter losses on Friday, while Finnish rival Nokia lowered its 2023 forecast due to a slowdown in their main market, network construction. 5G.
Around 6:50 a.m. (Eastern time), on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, the Nokia stock fell by 7.81%. On the Stockholm Stock Exchange, the Ericsson title lost 8.33%.
Oil prices hesitated on Friday, the two global benchmarks catching their breath after their rise of the week, between the return of investors’ appetite for risk and questions about demand.
By 6:45 a.m. EST, a barrel of Brent North Sea crude for September delivery was down some 0.13% at $81.25. Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery, fell just 0.11% to 76.80 dollars.
The two world crude benchmarks, however, were moving close to their highest levels in two and a half months.
The euro was still gaining some ground against the dollar on Friday after several signs of slowing inflation in the United States, while in the euro zone, the European Central Bank (ECB) says it wants to continue its monetary tightening.
Around 6:45 a.m. (ET), the euro was stable (-0.07%) at $1.1218, after rising to $1.1245, a high since February 2022. Over the week, the The single currency gained nearly 2.5%, benefiting from waning inflation in the United States.
Friday, around 6:45 a.m. (Eastern time), bitcoin dropped 0.88% to 31,110 dollars after reaching 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.
