NEW YORK: Signs of a slowdown in the American economy have caused oil prices to fall and the stock markets to doubt, although they were on the rise at the start of the session on Friday but could not rebound frankly after Thursday’s black session.
While they had taken more than 1% in session, the European indices closed divided. Frankfurt advanced 0.67% and Milan 0.29%, Paris gained 0.06% and London lost 0.41%. Over the week they suffered significant losses, ranging from 3.3% to 4.9%.
In New York, the Dow Jones closed down a small 0.13%, while the Nasdaq index, with strong technological coloring, gained 1.43% and the broader S&P 500 index, 0.22%.
Industrial production slowed more than expected in May in the United States, and manufacturing production even contracted, concrete signs of a slowdown in the American economy as more and more experts fear a recession of the world’s largest economy.
“These are not the first disappointing numbers for the United States. There had already been … a whole series of numbers that show that the American economy is slowing down and perhaps faster than we never imagined,” explains Frédéric Rozier, portfolio manager at Mirabaud France.
These statistics have driven down oil prices, which are very sensitive to forecasts of economic growth.
The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in August, quoted in London, lost 5.58% to 113.12 dollars, while the American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in July fell back below the bar. $110 for the first time in three weeks. It lost 6.82% to end at $109.56.
“Everyone is afraid of a recession next year, but it is possible that we are already in recession”, launched Karl Haeling, of LBBW, recalling that the American Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had contracted in the first quarter and that the Atlanta office of the Fed had revised its growth rate forecast for the second quarter to 0%, against 0.9% so far.
Calm on bond rates
After being very badly shaken this week, the bond market calmed down: long-term sovereign debt rates were fairly stable. And the gap between the German 10-year rate and that of the Italian debt has narrowed sharply, falling back below the 200 point mark.
In this anxious climate, bonds once again found favor with investors. The yield on 10-year US government bonds, which moves opposite to their price, eased to 3.23% from 3.30%.
The gas flies away
The reduction in gas deliveries from Russian giant Gazprom to Europe was pushing benchmark natural gas prices in Europe higher: it has jumped more than 50% since the start of the week and was worth 124.10 euros per megawatt hour. (MWh) around 4:05 p.m. GMT.
BNP Paribas interested in ABN Amro?
According to the Bloomberg agency, the BNP Paribas banking group has expressed its interest in buying the ABN Amro bank, owned by the Dutch state.
A close source told AFP that “there is no acquisition process underway”.
The rumor was enough to make the title of ABN Amro jump by 5.65% and that of BNP Paribas by 0.46%.
On the currency side
The dollar, a safe haven, was on the rise again. The euro fell 0.53% against the greenback, to 1.0496 dollars for one euro, while the pound sterling dropped 1.06% against the “greenback”.
The greenback even climbed 2.06% against the yen, considerably weakened by the accommodative monetary policy of the Bank of Japan.
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