The European stock markets ended Thursday with a timid rebound thanks in particular to the defensive sector and the solid results of Rémy Cointreau, despite concerns about the health situation and the absence of American investors in the markets because of Thanksgiving.
In Paris, the CAC 40 finished with a gain of 0.48% to 7,075.87 points. The British Footsie advanced by 0.34% and the German Dax by 0.25%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index gained 0.4%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.37% and the Stoxx 600 0.42%.
The positive trend was supported by defensive sectors, such as utilities (+ 1.77%), real estate (+ 1.17%), or healthcare (+ 0.29%), considered more secure in times of economic uncertainty.
Conversely, basic resources (-0.37%) ended up behind the Stoxx 600.
Tightening restrictions in several European countries to tackle the COVID-19 epidemic and lingering uncertainties about inflation continue to weigh on investor morale, which explains weak gains in equity markets .
Germany crossed the 100,000 death mark from COVID-19 on Thursday as the number of new infections continues to skyrocket.
The French government, for its part, announced Thursday an expansion of the vaccine booster campaign, a tightening of the health pass and an extension of the obligation to wear a mask.
In the Netherlands, while hospitals have been forced to deprogram care due to COVID-19, the government has announced that it is preparing “heavy measures” to slow down contamination. In South Africa, a new variant of the coronavirus, called B.1.1.529, has also been discovered.
VALUES
In terms of values, Rémy Cointreau signed the best progression of the pan-European Stoxx 600 index with a gain of 13.42%, to 212 euros. The spirits group owes this historic peak to the increase in its annual financial targets.
In its wake, Pernod Ricard, at the top of the CAC 40, gained 2.45% and Diageo nearly 1% on the London market.
On the downside, Orange (-0.23%) ended up in the red after the resignation of its CEO Stéphane Richard, sentenced Wednesday on appeal to one year in prison suspended and 50,000 euros fine in the case of the arbitration between Bernard Tapie and Crédit Lyonnais.
Elsewhere in Europe, Swiss Life gained 3.55% after the announcement of a new share buyback plan for one billion Swiss francs (953 million euros) and an increase in the dividend paid to shareholders.
A WALL STREET
Wall Street is closed this Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday’s session will be cut short. The day before, the indices ended in scattered order with a Dow Jones in the red but an S & P-500 and a Nasdaq in the green.
TODAY’S INDICATORS
In Europe, the only indicator of the day, the growth of the German economy was revised down to 1.7% in the third quarter against 1.8% in first estimate, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office.
CHANGES
On the foreign exchange market, the dollar fell 0.12% against a basket of benchmark currencies, but remained close to its peak of July 2020 after the “minutes” Wednesday from the US Federal Reserve which reinforced the prospect of a faster rate hike by the Fed compared to other major central banks.
The euro, down 2.9% against the greenback since the start of the month, modestly advances 0.13% to 1.1212 dollars. The single currency is penalized by expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) will be more accommodating than the Fed.
In the minutes of its October meeting published on Thursday, the ECB’s Governing Council left its monetary policy unchanged and ruled out a rate hike in 2022, despite inflation which, according to the president of the institution, Christine Lagarde , could remain elevated longer than expected. The ECB has also said it wants to keep some room for maneuver beyond its meeting on December 16.
RATE
European bond yields, supported so far by the prospect of a rate hike by the end of next year, ended, after three sessions in the green, down.
The ten-year German Bund yield contracted 2.6 basis points to -0.245%, the French ten-year yield fell 2.7 points to 0.118% and its Italian equivalent 1.5 points to 1.063%.
OIL
Oil is declining slightly, affected by uncertainties about the reaction of OPEC and its allies after the decision of several large countries, including the United States and Japan, to release their strategic crude reserves.
Brent lost 0.1% to $ 82.15 per barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) dropped 0.36% to $ 78.12 per barrel.
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