(ABM FN) The Brussels stock market is expected to start higher on Friday after the significant losses a day earlier. Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 index pointed to a gain of more than half a percent about an hour before the stock market bell.
On Thursday, Bel20 fell 1.4 percent to 4,066.92 points. Tech stocks took a hit after a historically negative price reaction to data from Meta Platforms and a European Central Bank that appears to have opened the door to a rate hike later this year, pushing European government bond yields soaring.
Investors mercilessly punished Meta Platforms, which Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are part of, on Thursday after the figures report on Wednesday evening after trading. Meta, considered one of the “big five” of US technology companies, generates almost all of its revenue from advertising revenue and companies are slashing their budgets due to supply chain problems, according to Meta, which also faces strict regulation and increasing competition.
The Meta share was no less than 26.4 percent lower on Thursday, as a result of which a market value of 230 billion dollars evaporated. Never before in stock market history has there been such a large depreciation of one company in one day. Investors in New York were in a minus and tech exchange Nasdaq closed the trading day on Thursday with a loss of 3.7 percent.
After the fair, however, the cards were shuffled again.
That other ‘big five’ giant Amazon turned out to have performed better than expected in the past quarter. The e-commerce company saw annual revenue increase from $125.6 billion to $137.4 billion. Net profit rose by more than 50 percent to $33.4 billion.
The stock, with a valuation of more than $1,400 billion, was up more than 14 percent in e-commerce after hours, after a regular session loss of nearly 8 percent.
Snap made it even more colorful with its after-market figures. The social media company, known for snapchat, where the received media is only temporarily visible to the recipients, turned out to have been profitable for the first time in the past quarter. Revenue also rose 42 percent to $1.3 billion. The stock gained 59 percent after the close of trading, after a loss of 24 percent in the regular session.
The company figures gave investors some color on the face and the futures on tech exchange Nasdaq are trading more than 2 percent in the green this morning.
In Asia, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained more than 3 percent this morning. The profit for the stock exchange in Sydney remains limited to 0.6 percent.
In addition, the rise in the oil price does not seem to be coming to an end. March futures for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude closed 2.3 percent higher in New York on Thursday at $90.27 a barrel. Black gold rose above $90 for the first time since October 2014. In Asian trading this morning, the future rises further by more than half a percent.
In particular, tensions between Russia and Ukraine and a relative unanimity within OPEC+ are behind the recent increases.
ECB interest rate decision leaves traces
The European Central Bank seems to be considering raising interest rates already this year. In December, chairman Christine Lagarde indicated that an interest rate hike in 2022 was unlikely, but on Thursday she did not want to repeat that with the interest rate decision.
European bond markets reacted immediately and the annual yield on German 10-year government bonds rose by more than 10 basis points to 0.145 percent. Over the past three years, Germany received money from issuing these bonds.
More worryingly, the comparable bond in Italy rose 23 basis points to 1.645 percent. Southern European countries in particular are struggling with huge debts due to, among other things, corona support packages and rising interest charges undermine state finances.
For that reason, the ECB is reluctant to raise interest rates, to the chagrin of savers, among others, while the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are speeding up with rate hikes to contain the excessively high inflation.
US jobs report
The big item on the agenda today is the release of the US jobs report for January.
It was announced on Wednesday that private sector employment in the US would have contracted unexpectedly in January, according to data from paycheck processor ADP, which is considered a precursor to the official jobs report.
Economists polled by Dow Jones expect meager January growth of 150,000 jobs, but estimates vary widely.
Company news
UCB achieved positive study results with zilucoplan in a Phase 3 RAISE study for the treatment of myasthenia gravis in adults. UCB plans to submit applications to regulators in the United States, Japan and the European Union later this year.
EcoR1 Capital increased its stake in Galapagos to more than 5 percent.
Care Property Invest bought the Warm Hart Zuidwolde development project. The total investment value for this project is estimated at approximately 10.4 million euros.
Montea bought back 70,000 of its own shares between 6 January and 3 February for a total amount of more than 8.8 million euros.
Wall Street closing positions
The S&P 500 index fell 2.4 percent on Thursday to 4,477.35 points, the Dow Jones index lost 1.5 percent to 35,111.16 points and the Nasdaq closed 3.7 percent lower at 13,878.82 points.
Bron: ABM Financial News
From Beursplein 5, the editors of ABM Financial News keep a close eye on developments on the stock exchanges, and the Amsterdam stock exchange in particular. The information in this column is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments.
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