Cautious moves in the European markets with a view to the economy

The main European indices have started slightly higher in the first week of the week, after a turbulent five-day period at the rate of successive interest rate hikes worldwide.

In particular, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index is slightly stronger by 0.07% at 403.5 points, with the travel and leisure sector strengthening by 1.1% while construction and raw material companies are down 1.2%.

Similarly, the high-capitalization Stoxx 50 is moving with small gains of 0.25% at 3,447 points.

In the individual European boards, the German DAX is up 0.3% at 13,165 points, the British FTSE 100 is up 0.2% at 7,031 points, while the French CAC 40 is down 0.1% at 5,880 points.

It is moving slightly downwards and the Italian FTSE MIB in the region remains virtually unchanged at 21,800 points, while in Spain the IBEX 35 is up 0.3% and is trading at 8,190 points.

Markets, not only in Europe but globally, are coming from a week of intense crunch in the wake of successive central bank moves to tame unbridled inflation.

The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates last Wednesday by a staggering 75 basis points (0.75%), for the first time since 1994, and has announced it will continue to tighten its monetary policy cycle. with a new increase in July, by 50 bp. or maybe 75 p.m. again.

Then, on an increase in its own interest rates, Switzerland proceeded unexpectedly on Thursday, for the first time in the last 15 years and by 50 bp. as well as the Bank of England, by 25 bp. as expected.

Investors are becoming increasingly concerned that the simultaneous drainage of liquidity globally to control inflation will lead to a global recession, which is clearly reflected in the charts.

Characteristically, in the US the big S&P 500 index completed its worst week since 2020 with total losses of 5.8%, while the industrial Dow Jones completed its 11th week of decline in the last 12 and is far from entering a typical bear market area. less than 300 units.

In the macroeconomic news of the day, wholesale prices in Germany jumped by a staggering 33.3% year-on-year in May, the largest level ever recorded since reunification, indicating that inflationary pressures are far from being reduced.