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European Commentary

French Market Rises

By RTTNews Staff Writer   ✉  | Published:  | Google News Follow Us  | Join Us
rttnewslogo20mar2024

The French market is in positive territory after opening lower on Friday, ahead of the key monthly jobs report from the U.S. Major markets across Asia/Pacific ended mixed while the U.S. index futures are higher.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.37 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is rising 0.34 percent.

After the morning session in negative territory, the CAC 40 index is currently adding 0.52 percent.

Societe Generale is climbing 4.6 percent. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole are advancing 1.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Deutsche Bank raised BNP Paribas to "Buy" from "Hold."

Alcatel Lucent is adding 2.5 percent. EADS is up 2.1 percent.

Peugeot and Renault are rising 1.9 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Deutsche Bank reinitiated Carrefour with a "Hold" rating. The stock is up 0.4 percent.

Cosmetics giant Loreal is losing 0.8 percent and luxury goods firm LVMH is falling 0.7 percent.

Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is gaining 0.38 percent and the UK's FTSE 100 is adding 0.42 percent. Switzerland's SMI is losing 0.30 percent.

In economic news, Germany's private sector output expanded in January at the fastest pace since June 2011, but the increase was slightly weaker than the flash estimate, final data from Markit Economics showed.

Eurozone retail sales fell 0.4 percent in December from the prior month, Eurostat reported Friday. Economists were expecting turnover to expand 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, activity in the French service sector increased more than previously estimated in January, final data from a survey by Markit Economics revealed.

A report from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the British economy is likely to return to technical recession in the first half of this year.

Across Asia/Pacific, major markets had a mixed outing. Australia's All Ordinaries lost 0.30 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 retreated 0.51 percent. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.77 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively.

In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages closed on opposite sides of the unchanged line, with the Dow posting a modest loss of 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent.

In the commodity space, crude for March delivery is rising $0.53 to $96.89 per barrel, while April gold is advancing $3.2 to $1762.5 a troy ounce.

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Market Analysis

Global Economics Weekly Update - Jun 01 - Jun 05, 2026

June 05, 2026 16:18 ET
A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.

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