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The week ended rather well for the world’s stock markets.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Buoyed by good corporate results and the eagerly-awaited publication of U.S. employment figures, European indices<\/strong> opened higher on Friday<\/strong>, somewhat offsetting the week’s losses.<\/p>\n At the opening, after three days of decline, Paris gained 0.37%, Frankfurt 0.52% and London 0.30%<\/strong>. And just after 2.30 p.m., the CAC 40 was up 1%, and the Dax 0.56%<\/strong>. But they were still down on the week, by 1.54% for Paris and 1.11% for Frankfurt.<\/p>\n The London Stock Exchange, meanwhile, was up 0.82%<\/strong> at 2.30 p.m., representing a five-day gain of 2.2%.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n All observers of the financial world were eagerly awaiting the April US employment report<\/strong>, due at 12.30 pm GMT. This report sets the tone for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, which is crucial for the global economy.<\/p>\n\n In the end, the world’s leading economy created just 175,000 jobs in April<\/strong>, instead of the 240,000 anticipated by the Bloomberg consensus, and after 330,000 in March. As a result, instead of stabilizing, the unemployment rate is expected to rise by 0.1 points, to 3.9% of the workforce, and average hourly wage inflation to stabilize at 0.3% month-on-month, down 0.4% year-on-year.<\/p>\n These data reassured the world’s stock markets, which were not closed on Friday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In addition to the positive trend on European stock markets, Wall Street’s main indices are also expected to gain more than 1%.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Paris, the CAC 40 was also buoyed on Friday by the publication of better-than-expected quarterly results<\/strong> by two French banks. Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale and Cr\u00e9dit Agricole<\/strong>, and by the soaring sales<\/strong> (+11.1%) of billboard specialist JCDecaux<\/strong>. Their shares rose by 5.5%, 3.9% and 11.1% respectively!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the luxury goods sector<\/strong>, while the publication of results for the leading French trio (Lvmh, Kering, Herm\u00e8s)<\/strong> ended on Thursday April 25 with a very good performance by Herm\u00e8s, it was a mixed week for these stocks on the stock market.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Paradoxically, the saddler’s stock<\/strong> had been badly hit in the wake of its good results, falling -1.2% on April 25. After continuing on a slippery slope on April 29 (-2.21%) and 30 (-2%), Herm\u00e8s only regained favor with the CAC 40 on May 2<\/strong> (+0.45%). On May 3, it was up +2.23% around 3:15pm. It was still down 2.7% over the past week. However, since January 1, 2024, it has remained very buoyant (+19.08%).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kering was also able to taste some comfort mid-week.<\/strong> Fran\u00e7ois-Henri Pinault’s group had been heavily punished on the stock market on April 24, with a 6.45% decline, following the publication the previous day of a poor first quarter 2024, worse than analysts’ forecasts. This week, Kering shares fell by a further 0.68% and 1.68% on April 29 and 30. But it recovered slightly on May 2 (+0.72%) and even more so on May 3, with a rebound of +2.51%<\/strong> at around 3:15 pm. Since January 1, 2024, however, it is still down 16.8%!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Lvmh share had to wait until May 3 to regain its momentum (+2.67% around 3.15pm) after three declines at the start of the week<\/strong>, on April 29 and 30 and May 2 (-1.64%, -0.62% and 0.96%). The luxury goods champion was still down 1.27% on the week, but up +6.61% since the beginning of 2024. In mid-April, Lvmh had published respectable results (with organic growth of +3%) for the first quarter of 2024.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange finished higher on Thursday May 2.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Dow Jones index gained 0.85%<\/strong> to 38,225.66 points, while the broader S&P-500<\/strong> was up 0.91%<\/strong> to 5,064.20 points, and the Nasdaq Composite, the index of technology stocks, was up 1.51% to 15,840.96 points,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Among these tech giants, Apple’s results<\/strong> were eagerly awaited. The American giant’s sales may have fallen by 4% (and even 10% for its iPhone!) in the first quarter, but they exceeded analysts’ forecasts. The share price of the king of Smartphones<\/strong>, which also announced a return to growth for the quarter, rose by 7%<\/strong> in the wake of its results.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Generally speaking, 77% of companies that published their results in the US exceeded expectations<\/strong>, according to the financial company LSEG.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In addition to this positive trend in corporate performance, analysts also pointed to the comments made by the Fed Chairman<\/strong> the previous day, Wednesday May 1, which they perceived as more accommodative than they had feared.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Indeed, Jerome Powell seemed to rule out any further rate hikes<\/strong> by the US central bank. It remains to be seen whether this doctrine will evolve further in the light of Uncle Sam’s latest unfavorable employment figures for April…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Asia, the MSCI index of Asian and Pacific stocks (excluding Japan) continued its positive run of almost two weeks. It gained 1%<\/strong> on Friday, thanks in particular to Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index<\/strong>. The latter closed up 1.5%, marking a ninth consecutive day of gains and the longest winning streak since January 2018! This good news is explained by the perception of economic improvement in China<\/strong>, to which government policy, via reforms in particular, is being applied.<\/p>\n Japan’s Nikkei index<\/strong>, on the other hand, closed down 0.1% on Thursday May 2<\/strong>. To commemorate Constitution Memorial Day, the national holiday marking the promulgation of the 1947 Constitution, the Japanese stock market is closed this Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n In mainland China, the markets have also closed<\/strong>, but for a longer period, as Labor Day, a precious vacation in communist countries, is celebrated from May 1 to 3…<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the currency front, the dollar was down Friday morning by 0.05%<\/strong> against a basket of reference currencies, its worst weekly performance (-0.7%)<\/strong> in two months.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The US currency was thus impacted by the yen’s rebound.<\/strong> Whereas the dollar was worth 160 yen at the start of the week, it fell back to around 153.03 yen on Friday, following a probable intervention by the Japanese authorities<\/strong> on the foreign exchange market.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The euro, on the other hand, remained stable (+0.08%)<\/strong> at $1.0734. Sterling was up 0.14% at $1.2548.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lastly, oil prices were up slightly at the end of the week, as production restrictions by OPEC countries are<\/strong> expected to be extended beyond June.<\/strong>US employment report crucial for the economy<\/h2>\n
Highs and lows for luxury goods<\/h2>\n
Small comfort for Kering<\/h2>\n
Good corporate results on Wall Street<\/h2>\n
Positive series in Asia<\/h2>\n
Weak dollar<\/h2>\n
\nOn Friday morning, Brent crude gained 0.23% to $83.86 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) 0.22% to $79.12 a barrel. But for the week as a whole, the trend was clearly downwards, with Brent down 6.3% and WTI down 5.6%. This was their biggest decline in three months!<\/p>\n
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