Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Madrid closed on more than one percent.
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European markets mostly ended lower on Wednesday after a rather hesitant session where relief from deconfinements was finally wiped out by poor macroeconomic figures.
The Parisian flagship index, the CAC 40, lost 1.11%.
On the other European places, Frankfurt fell by 1.15%, Milan by 1.31% and Madrid by 1.13%. London, for its part, ended at breakeven (+ 0.07%). In Zurich, the SMI gained 0.63%.
European markets “ran out all day. They mostly digested and eventually fell, but without it being possible to draw any real conclusions, “said Daniel Larrouturou, an analyst at Dôm Finance, with AFP.
The positive effect linked to the prospect of accelerating deconfinitions, particularly in Germany, which had offered market support in recent days, has faded somewhat.
Today’s statistics “did not really help, even if bad numbers were expected anyway,” added Larrouturou.
The US private sector collapsed in April due to containment measures, with 20.236 million jobs lost, according to monthly survey by the business services firm ADP, a figure lower than expected.
The European Commission predicted a “historic” recession in the EU on Wednesday this year due to the pandemic, which it believes will result in a record fall in GDP of 7.7% in the euro zone, then a rebound of 6.3 % in 2021. In France, gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall by 8.2% in 2020.
Italy, for its part, is set to enter a “deep recession” in 2020 with a GDP down 9.5% and public debt at its highest (158.9% of GDP).
Debt tension
These publications have led to tensions in the debt market, led by Italy. The spread of the country’s ten-year borrowing rate to that of Germany, which refers, thus remained at a high level at 248 basis points against 244 the previous day.
As for the results, “again the markets are a little hesitant, they do not know how to accommodate publications inevitably impacted by the crisis and forecasts which mainly report the lack of visibility,” said Mr. Larrouturou.
On the securities front, in Paris the insurer Axa gained 0.72% to 15.95 euros, with a solid balance sheet for the first quarter, even if he expects the crisis to have a ” significant impact ”on its performance for the rest of the year.
After a positive start to the session, Crédit Agricole finally lost 2.32% to 7 euros, even if the banking group assured that it could absorb the shock of the health crisis despite the tripling of its provisions which started its net profit in the first quarter .
In Frankfurt, the automaker BMW lost 5.40% to 50.62 euros. Like competitors Volkswagen and Daimler, it expects to lose business in the second quarter, and warns that the coronavirus crisis may last.
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