Stock exchanges: Wall Street thwarted, Brent crude touches $120 a barrel
The quarterly reports of Google, Amazon, Meta and Platform are coming up, after the shake-up on OpenAI's numbers. The focus on Iran remains high with the Arab Emirates' exit from Opec opening up new scenarios. Oil runs, Brent touched a peak near $120
Key points
Le ultime da Radiocor
***Banco Bpm: da Credit Agricole nessuna richiesta a Bce di superare il 30%
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***Trasporti: Urso, attivato Garante prezzi per aumento anomalo biglietti aerei
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Closing in the red for the European stock markets, caught between the wait for the Fed's decision on rates, the new oil rises - with the White House not ruling out a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz for months - and the quarterly reports season, which will get into full swing with the Big tech USA (Alphabet , Amazon , Meta Platforms and Microsoft Corp , on Thursday those of Apple ). Doubts about the resilience of the AI sector are also returning: the Wsj's indiscretions about OpenAI's accounts cooled sentiment on the eve of the event, which today was only partly heartened by Nxp's quarterly report.
On the central banking front, anticipation is rising for the Fed's response: rather than the status quo on rates, already discounted by the market, investors are looking to the last press conference of Chairman Jerome Powell (at the end of his term). "We expect him to adopt a more restrictive tone, signs of inflationary risk are emerging, and with a resilient economy and US equity markets still solid, risks are likely to increase," explains Derek Halpenny of Mufg Bank. Meanwhile, on the macro front, the durable goods orders figure for March was above expectations, while in the construction sector the new construction sites (+10.8%) rose sharply and above expectations, while the building permits slipped sharply (-10.8%).
Attention then remains high on the Middle East issue, with Tehran claiming that it does not consider the war "over" with the US ceasefire and US President Donald Trump reportedly telling his aides, according to the Wall Street Journal, to prepare for a "prolonged blockade" of Iran. All this, while the UAE's historic exit from Opec opens new questions.
Against this backdrop, Piazza Affari ended down 0.5%, Paris and Frankfurt 0.4%, Madrid 0.75% and London was the worst (-1.2%).
Wall Street cuts losses on the close and closes mixed
Wall Street pared its losses at the close of the session, with indices closing mixed. The Dow Jones ended the session down 0.57 per cent, the S&P 500 down marginally by minus 0.04 per cent, while the Nasdaq turned slightly higher at plus 0.04 per cent. The dollar rose, with the euro dropping 1.1676 against the greenback in the evening, after the Federal Reserve confirmed interest rate levels for the US.
