(Paris) European stock markets are down slightly on Friday, a session that is still busy both in terms of corporate results and macroeconomic indicators for investors.
The day after its best session in six months, Paris yielded 0.22% around 7:30 a.m. Milan lost 0.34%, Frankfurt gained 0.02% and London even gained 0.06%.
On Wall Street, the indices were heading for an open higher between 0.2% and 0.8% depending on the futures.
But the trend could change by the start of the session with the PCE report, which notably includes the US Central Bank’s favorite inflation barometer, at 8:30 am.
Both the US and European central banks indicated during the week that they were not ruling out ending their rate hike cycle that began in 2022.
But the strength of the economy, with stronger than expected growth in the United States or France, and inflation figures out of step with expectations could push them to change gear.
The slightly less accommodating attitude of the Japanese Central Bank caused the Tokyo Stock Exchange to retreat on Friday and drag down the other markets, which are still busy with corporate results.
“The main message” from Thursday’s ECB meeting “is that the September decision will depend on forthcoming data,” Goldman Sachs analysts summed up.
In Japan, the Central Bank took a small step closer to ending its ultra-loose policy, giving more leeway to changes in Japanese government interest rates.
The 10-year Japanese bond, the benchmark maturity, hit its highest level since 2014 and was trading at 0.56% around 7:30 a.m. (Eastern time).
The luxury group (3.76%) detonated on Friday with results up sharply, closing the march of the semi-annual publications of the sector which is experiencing a slowdown in sales in the United States and a gradual recovery in China.
Conversely, Kering fell 1.37% on the stock market after announcing a 10% drop in profit and an agreement to acquire 30% of Valentino for 1.7 billion euros.
British bank Standard Chartered, which makes most of its profit in Asia, climbed more than 5% after improving its forecast and announcing a billion-dollar share buyback program.
NatWest, shaken by the resignation of its boss on Wednesday, rose almost 3% after announcing a net profit up 22%.
The first Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo (1.67%) saw its net profit jump 80% to 4.2 billion euros in the first half.
Japanese banks were buoyed by the Central Bank’s decision: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group jumped 5.28%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 4.29% and Mizuho 4.8%.
The Swedish-British pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca (4.30%) announced on Friday the acquisition of a portfolio of drugs to treat rare diseases from its American rival Pfizer for an amount of up to 1 billion dollars, supplemented by royalties . Its half-year profit increased fivefold to $3.6 billion.
In France, Sanofi (-2.95%) is strengthening its position in dietary supplements with the purchase of the American company Qunol, whose products for cardiovascular and joint health are popular in North American gyms.
Oil prices fall but remain up 3.5% over the week: a barrel of Brent was worth $83.88 (-0.42%) around 7:20 a.m. (Eastern time) and that of American WTI $79.84 (-0.31%).
The euro rose 0.30% to $1.1012 after a sharp decline on Thursday.
Bitcoin was up 0.18% at $29,195.
