European stock markets have closed with slight declines that have not prevented widespread gains over the week. The Stoxx 600 has risen more than 2% over the week and has slightly surpassed the historical highs from August. In a session without significant references and with few variations in the indices caution has once again prevailed, with defensive sectors leading the gains while Technology and Industry recorded losses once again.
The European market has shown notable resilience to macroeconomic uncertainties and to the turbulence of AI, supported by a earnings season that confirms the strength of corporate profits and by widely discounted monetary policy expectations.
By indices, the Ibex 35 and the British FTSE 100 stood out with gains of around 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.2% pressured by technology and defence stocks.
Volatility returned today to the semiconductor sector, which fell more than 5% at midday, eliminating the rebound of recent days. The losses particularly affected companies that had rebounded in recent days as potential beneficiaries of the Nvidia crisis, among others AMD and Broadcom.
US wholesale inflation remains at elevated levels in October, with the producer price index (PPI) rising by 0.3% month-on-month, slightly below the expected 0.4%, and reaching 6.5% year-on-year, its highest level in nearly four years, although also a tenth lower than consensus.
At the European close, the S&P 500 fell by 0.9%, the Nasdaq by 1.6% and the Dow Jones by 0%.
Bond markets recorded slight increases in yields in the Eurozone and a flat tone in the United States. Over the week, the US curve has risen sharply, by around 25 basis points, following a higher-than-expected inflation data.
Today the yield on the 10-year German Bund rose by 3 basis points to 3.37%. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose by 1 basis point to 5.14%.
Brent rose by 0.2% to 96 dollars/barrel, moderating its weekly decline to 2%. Trump has cooled the prospects for a quick agreement, while the IEA anticipates an oversupply in the crude oil market this quarter due to falling demand and rising flows.
The EUR/USD has fallen by 1% over the week due to the strong rebound in expectations for rate hikes by the Fed.