World stock markets fell again on Friday, particularly the European indices, the continuation and intensification of the fighting in Ukraine raising fears of an economic recession in Europe.
Paris fell 4.97% to 6,061.66 points, Frankfurt by 4.41% and Milan by 6.24%, completing their worst session and their worst week since the announcement of the first confinement in March 2020. they lose more than 10% each.
London, more resilient since the start of the year, dropped 3.48%.
The New York Stock Exchange fell more moderately, the American economy being less exposed to Russia: the Dow Jones lost 0.83%, the Nasdaq fell by 1.54% and the S&P 500 by 1.11%, towards 5:10 p.m. GMT.
Other signs of weakness in Europe, the single currency (-1.39% to 1.0912 dollars) fell below the symbolic threshold of 1.10 dollars for one euro, a level not seen since the first months of the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19.
The Russian army occupied the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye (south), the largest in Europe, on Friday, where bombings during the night raised fears of a disaster.
“Putin is increasingly desperate for victory in the face of numerous setbacks and there are few signs that he is inclined to back down,” analyst Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.
Faced with this stalemate in the conflict, “investors fear more and more the risks of recession and escalation”, comments Craig Erlam, analyst at Oanda.
“The market anticipates that corporate profits will fall back, it is now integrating elements of recession”, confirms Alexandre Baradez, analyst at IG France.
Safe havens remained at high levels: an ounce of gold moved to 1,965 dollars (+1.48%). The 10-year US government bond fell to 1.719%, against 1.84% Thursday at the close. The German 10-year rate, which is a reference in Europe, went back into negative territory (-0.08% against +0.02% the day before at the close).
Investors ignored the latest US job market data, which came in above analysts’ expectations.
“For the market, these are indicators from the past that have almost no meaning given the current context,” explains Mr. Baradez.
New surge in raw materials
After a slight one-day respite, oil prices rose again on Friday, but remained below their peak the day before.
The April WTI barrel advanced 3.06% to 110.96 dollars around 5:10 p.m. GMT after hitting a high since 2008 on Thursday.
The barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May, which refers to Europe, took 2.77% to 113.54 dollars, after having come close to 120 dollars the day before.
Natural gas in Europe exceeded the 200 euro per megawatt hour mark for the first time, soaring around 5:10 p.m. GMT to 204 euros per megawatt hour, up nearly 27%, after a high of 213 euros.
Wheat and maize also beat records on the European market, Ukraine being a central country in the supply of agricultural raw materials.
“The rise in agricultural commodity prices is particularly worrying, given that the last time they reached these levels we had the Arab Spring,” said Michael Hewson.
Nickel, of which Russia is also a major producer, exceeded the bar of 30,000 dollars per ton, a first since 2008.
Exposure to Russia penalizes
The companies most exposed to Russia are necessarily the most penalized. In Paris, Societe Generale fell by 10.03% and Alstom by 9.04%.
In Frankfurt, Uniper, which participated in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, sold 11.85%. Banks, including Commerzbank (-10.27%), automotive, like Volkswagen (-6.99%) also suffered.
In Milan, the falls of the operator Telecom Italia (-15.56%), the bank Unicredit (-14.59) or Intesa San Paolo (-7.30%) also weighed on the rating.
Over the week, the values of the airline, banking and automotive sectors recorded abysmal losses of 15% to 20%.
In addition, bitcoin yielded some gains for the week (-3.07%) to 40,800 dollars.
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