(Paris) The world stock markets are suffering on Thursday from the sharp rise in rates after the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the American Federal Reserve, which augurs for a strict policy for many more months.
On the Old Continent, Paris lost 0.94%, Frankfurt 0.71%, London 0.63% and Milan 1.03%, after a slack first part of the session.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was down 0.18%, the S
US markets had already fallen on Wednesday in reaction to the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed).
Market analysts took the discussions a little harsher than they expected: “most” of the meeting participants notably acknowledged that there were still “risks” of inflation persistence which could “require further tightening of monetary policy.”
But “markets had gotten used to the idea that July’s rate hike was probably the last,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
This element was reinforced by the figures of the US job market, which is still tight, which favors wage increases, and therefore inflation.
Thus, weekly jobless claims fell a little, contrary to forecasts. “Risks are tilted in favor of another (Fed) rate hike if the labor market does not ease further,” said Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics.
The US 10-year yield is hovering around 15-year highs and stood at 4.30% around 11:45 a.m. EST, after peaking at 4.33% earlier in the session .
On the European bond market, rates are also tightening: the yield on the 10-year German government bond stood at 2.70%, against 2.65% at the close the previous day. That of France at the same time was 3.24% against 3.19%, flirting with its highest level since 2011.
The hypermarket chain Walmart has revised its forecast for its staggered 2024 fiscal year upwards in view of the performance achieved in the second quarter, during which its sales rose 5.7% year on year. The group generated a record net profit of 7.90 billion dollars (53.3% over one year) on a turnover of 161.63 billion.
Telecommunications systems giant Cisco jumped 4.77% after announcing better-than-expected results in the fourth quarter and mentioning an increase in its market share in equipment related to artificial intelligence.
Adyen, the Dutch online payments specialist, dropped 38.98% in Amsterdam after reporting first-half net profit below analysts’ expectations. “With such valuations, there can be no disappointment,” notes Lionel Melka, partner at Swann.
In its wake, Worldline fell by 3.51% in Paris and Nexi by 3.63% in Milan.
Oil rebounded sharply on Thursday after three sessions of declines, with the resilience of the US economy and demand, as well as market tensions offsetting concerns about China’s economic health.
Around 11:30 a.m. (Eastern time), a barrel of Brent North Sea, for October delivery, took 1.52% to 84.72 dollars and a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in September, gained 1.89% to $80.88.
The dollar was almost stable against the euro (-0.06%) at 1.0872 dollars for one euro.
