Equity markets should hesitate at the opening, before US employment. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 3,902.52 points (-1.43%), the CAC 40 at 6,659.87 points (-1.21%), the DAX 40 at 14,414.75 points (-1.31% ), the FTSE 100 at 7,515.68 points (-0.83%), the SMI at 12,161.53 points (-0.67%), the DJIA at 34,678.35 points (-1.56%), the Nasdaq at 14,220.52 points (-1.54%), the S&P 500 at 4,530.41 points (-1.57%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27,716.75 points (-0.38%).
On the exchange rate side, the variation compared to the close in New York indicates that the EUR/USD opens at 1.1068 (+0.01%), the EUR/JPY at 135.58 (+ 0.67%) and USD/JPY at 122.53 (+0.68%).
Sodexo said it expects organic revenue growth for the 2021-2022 financial year located "around the bottom" of the 15% to 18% range announced last October. However, the group confirmed its objective of an operating margin close to 5% at constant exchange rates for the financial year. Sanofi is holding an investor day on Friday devoted to Euroapi, its structure dedicated to the production and marketing to third parties of active pharmaceutical ingredients, which the group wishes to list on Euronext Paris.
Thursday evening, the Bolloré group announced that it had signed the sale of its subsidiary Bolloré Africa Logistics to the maritime carrier MSC for 5.7 billion euros, debt included. This agreement is in line with the offer submitted by MSC last December, which had led the two groups to engage in exclusive negotiations. On the macroeconomic side, registrations of new passenger cars in France fell by 19.5% over one year in March, in raw data, announced Friday The Automotive Platform (PFA), which brings together the sector in France. The statistics on the monthly budgetary situation of the State will appear at 8.45 am. The PMI for the manufacturing sector for the month of March will be published at 9:50 am.
European equity markets are expected to be little changed in early trading on Friday, as concerns over Ukraine and the US Federal Reserve (Fed) monetary policy tightening continue to weigh on trade. At 7:45 am, the futures contract on the CAC 40 yielded 9.2 points, or 0.1%, according to data from the broker IG Markets. The contract on the DAX 40 gained 5.5 points, or 0.04%, and that on the FTSE 100 lost 16.3 points, or 0.2%.
The financial rating agency S&P lowered its forecast for global gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 60 basis points, to 3.6% for 2022, and by 20 basis points for the following year. The euro zone is expected to be the most affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, while the rise in interest rates in the United States is the main reason for the downward revision of growth in the country. The New York Stock Exchange ended in sharp decline on Thursday, despite the sharp drop in oil prices, ending a difficult first quarter due to monetary uncertainties and the war in Ukraine. During the month of March, the Dow Jones S&P 500 indices gained 2.7% and 3.9% respectively, but they posted declines of 4.1% and 5% over the first three months of the year. The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 9% in the first quarter, despite rising 4.3% in March. In Asia, the main markets present a contrasting landscape on Friday. At the end of the session, the Nikkei index lost 0.4% in Tokyo, the Hang Seng of the Hang Kong Stock Exchange yielded 0.7% but the Shanghai Composite took 0.6%.
The 10-year US Treasury bond rate gained more than 4 basis points to 2.384% on Friday morning. Yields in the United States closed lower on Thursday after US President Joe Biden announced plans to tap into the country's strategic oil reserves to ease inflationary pressures. Nevertheless, while the 10-year yield saw its largest single-quarter rise in a year, the two-year rose much faster, posting its largest quarterly rise since 1984. The yield curve again brushed against the reversal on Thursday, two days after the spread between 10-year and 2-year yields briefly dipped below zero. A sustained inversion of this part of the curve is considered a reliable indicator of recession, but with a lag of up to two years.
The euro is stable Friday morning against the dollar, but appreciates against the yen, like the greenback.
Oil contracts fell again on Friday morning. They fell on Thursday after the United States announced it would draw a record number of barrels from its strategic oil reserves to curb rising energy prices. As of 7:45 a.m., the June contract for Brent North Sea crude was down $1.1, or 1.1%, at $103.58 a barrel, while the May contract for light sweet crude (WTI) quoted on the Nymex was down 93 cents, or 1.1%, at $99.87 a barrel.