Fed and corona topple AEX | Financial

The AEX closed 3.4% lower at 540.3 points. That is the strongest fall for the Amsterdam main indicator since March 27. The AMX dropped 3.9% to 731.3 points.

The other European stock market indicators were also hit hard. The British FTSE, the German DAX and the French CAC 40 lost 3.8%, 4% and 4.3% respectively.

At the close of the European stock markets, the Dow Jones index and the Nasdaq index were 4.1% and 2.5% lower, respectively.

Today’s solid losses are attributed to investment strategist Wim Zwanenburg van Stroeve & Lemberger mainly by announcements from the US central bank on Wednesday evening. “The Fed said it will not raise interest rates until at least 2022, because it believes the crisis will continue for the time being. She was also gloomy about the American labor market. Reports that the number of new victims of the coronavirus is increasing worldwide are also depressing the mood. ”

The official number of infections is now at 7.4 million and the number of corona deaths is 417,000.

Moreover, a stroke of luck from the American jobs front failed to materialize. In line with expectations, 1.54 million Americans filed for unemployment last week.

Zwanenburg thinks that the stock markets will take a back seat in the short term. “Few new impulses are to be expected in the coming weeks. On the other hand, the unprecedented incentives continue to support stock markets. I myself think that technology companies will continue to do relatively well. ”

OHV asset manager Richard Abma is more careful. “I think the correction can continue. The stock prices had overshot, resulting in very high price-earnings ratios. And because the Fed indicated that the stimulus measures will have an upward effect on long-term interest rates, this will automatically lead to lower valuations. Moreover, the virus is far from gone, which means that consumers remain cautious. ”

Abma also points out that the stock markets are very liquidity-driven. “A lot of private money has gone to the stock exchanges. That certainly applies to the US, where many have used the $ 1,200 government support to invest. This money can go in and out of the market quickly. ”

Real estate under pressure

In the AEX ended Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield with a minus of 13% down, following a sell advice from JP Morgan. The US bank lowered the price target to € 58. Goldman Sachs has recently increased its stake in the retail property business to over 10%. The bank issued a sales advice on Monday.

Financials came under severe pressure in response to the hangover over the Fed. Aegon, ABN Amro and ING and lost 9.2%, 8.8% and 8.5%, respectively.

RD Shell fell 6.9%, in response to the sharp drop in oil prices. A barrel of European Brent oil now costs less than $ 40.

AkzoNobel lost 5.4%. The paint group reported a recovery in the second quarter as distribution channels are largely open again. Analysts at KBC emphasized that revenue losses were greater than anticipated.

Just Eat Takeaway left 3.8%. The food delivery company enters the US market by acquiring industry colleague Grubhub for the equivalent of over $ 6 billion. This creates the largest food delivery company in the world outside of China. Just Eat Takeaway plummeted more than 13% on Wednesday after the company confirmed it was conducting merger talks.

DSM limited damage to 1.7%. The producer of plastics and food ingredients is said to have caught the eye of the Austrian industry colleague Erber.

Unilever was a positive exception with a plus of 0.5%. Investors responded positively to the food concern’s notification to simplify its legal structure and continue as Unilever PLC, turning the company British on paper. This provides more flexibility, making strategic decisions faster.

The soil researcher ended up with the medium-sized funds Fugro with a loss of 12.2% at the bottom.

Air France KLM flew down 8.7%. The cabin crew union at KLM wants to go to court about the structure of future layoffs.

PostNL lost 6.9%, in response to the court’s judgment that the government’s permit to merge postal companies PostNL and Sandd is invalid.

Real estate funds were also at the bottom of the small caps, with losses of 16.9% Wereldhave and 5.6% for Vastned.

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