Strong global stock markets before the Fed

(Paris) The world stock markets are well oriented on Wednesday, in the wake of the rebound of the banks and before the conclusions of the American Central Bank which will have to navigate between the fight against the rise in prices and the banking shock.

European markets, which recovered nearly 3% in two sessions, rose again around 8:10 a.m. (Eastern time): Paris gained 0.37%, London 0.16%, Frankfurt 0.57% and Milan 0 .33%.

The banking sector of the broader European Eurostoxx 600 index rose sharply by 1.77%, bringing its rebound over the week to 7%.

On Wall Street, the three major U.S. indices were looking flat at the open according to futures.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange rebounded on Wednesday to catch up with the renewed confidence in other global markets after being closed on Tuesday: it gained 1.93%. Shanghai gained 0.31% and Hong Kong 1.73%.

Investors are especially awaiting the conclusion of the two-day meeting of the monetary policy committee of the American Central Bank (Fed).

The Fed must engage in “ a balancing act ” according to John Plassard, investment specialist at Mirabaud.

“The negative impact of higher interest rates on the banking sector is becoming increasingly evident. Meanwhile, the latest data has reaffirmed that labor market conditions remain tight and inflation is still going strong,” he explained.

The majority of analysts believe that the institution should still raise its key rates by 0.25 percentage points, to bring them to just below 5%, as at the last meeting. Earlier in the month, they thought the rise was going to be double.

In a sign that the fight against rising prices in the Western world is far from over, inflation has risen to 10.4% year on year in the United Kingdom, against 10.1% in January when economists thought that the rhythm was going to slow down slightly.

“Rising alcohol prices in pubs and restaurants” largely contributed to this surprise rebound, as did “food and non-alcoholic beverages, which have climbed at the fastest rate in more than 45 years”, underlines Grant Fitzner, economist for the British Office for National Statistics, on the eve of a decision by the Bank of England on its interest rates.

On the bond market, the rates for government bonds in Europe recovered again: the German 10-year bond, the benchmark maturity, stood at 2.36%, the highest for a week, against 2.29% Tuesday at close.

Oil was blowing after rebounding from its lows since December 2021 in the last two sessions. The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for May delivery fell 0.56% to 74.90 dollars, while the barrel of American WTI at the same maturity, which is the first day of use as a reference contract, gave way. 0.65% to $69.22 around 4:15 a.m. EST.

The euro advanced 0.26% against the dollar to $1.0797, while the pound strengthened 0.45% to $1.2272, after British inflation hinted at further monetary tightening.

Bitcoin was stable at $28,205.