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As early as Thursday, forecasts were positive for the main European stock markets, which were expected to rise sharply on Friday.<\/p>\n
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Indeed, at the opening of Friday’s trading in Paris, the CAC 40<\/strong> gained 0.90% to 6,329.32 points at 07:45 GMT. In London, the FTSE<\/strong> 100 is up 1.36% and in Frankfurt, the Dax<\/strong> is up 1.28%. Analysts predicted for the three indices, an increase of 0.77%, 1.13% and 1.03% respectively: forecasts lower, in fine, than the opening rates of the stock markets Friday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In addition, the 1.11% rise in the EuroStoxx 50 index, the 0.92% rise in the FTSEurofirst 300 index and, in particular, the 1.28% rise in the Stoxx 600 index, have made it possible to erase almost all of the CAC 40’s losses since the beginning of the week. Nevertheless, the CAC 40 is still down 0.52% since Monday morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As for the New York Stock Exchange, after also two days of decline, Wall Street<\/strong> opened slightly in the green on Friday. A few minutes after the opening, the Dow Jones index advanced by 0.66%, the Nasdaq gained 1.20% and the S&P 500 took 0.82%.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The cause of the rise of these two stock market sectors is in China<\/strong>. Indeed, the People’s Bank of China<\/strong> (PBOC) announced yesterday, Thursday 19 May, the lowering of one of its key policy rates in order to support and boost the country’s economy. The latter lowered its five-year prime lending rate, which serves as a benchmark for China’s home loan market, by 15 basis points to 4.45%; its largest reduction since 2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAlthough this will certainly not be enough to counter all the headwinds that are holding back growth in the second quarter, it is a step in the right direction and the markets are reacting by perhaps anticipating further easing to come<\/em>\u201d said Carlos Casanova<\/strong>, senior Asia economist at UBP in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n