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The markets, swept away by the fear of a second wave of contamination


The markets, swept away by the fear of a second wave of contamination

Thursday, 14.05.2020

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news-single-imgcaption" style="width:240px">In this very gloomy environment, the majority of stocks in the CAC 40 index ended in red (Keystone).

Still under the spell of fear of a second wave of contamination and lasting damage to the economy, European markets again ended sharply lower on Thursday. Paris lost 1.65%, Frankfurt 1.95% and London 2.75%. Madrid also fell 1.29% and Milan 1.84%. In Zurich, the SMI sold 1.90%.

“What is especially worrying today is the fear of a second wave of contamination,” said Michaël Jacoby, head of continental Europe brokerage at Oddo Securities. “It is in the head of all the investors who are now waiting at the end of May at the beginning of June to see more clearly” on a rebound of the pandemic, he added. According to the expert, “the Fed boss’s statements on Wednesday and the controversy around who will have the vaccine first did not help because it weakens general confidence”.

Investors have seen gloomy gloom between the little reassuring remarks Wednesday by Jerome Powell who fears a lasting impact of the pandemic on the economy and the warnings of the WHO on Thursday that the coronavirus could “never disappear” .

Between controversy and tension

The Sanofi group also created controversy on Wednesday by arguing that the first vaccine could be reserved for the United States because of the significant investment of the American authorities. On Thursday, he dismissed the European authorities from their responsibilities, asking them to be as “efficient” as their American counterparts.

Rising tensions between China and the United States have also had a negative impact. Washington accused Beijing on Wednesday of attempting to hack into US research into a vaccine against the new coronavirus. China expressed its strong opposition to the American defamation on Thursday. Shortly after, Donald Trump further toughened his tone, threatening to sever all ties with the Asian giant due to his management of the coronavirus and ensuring that he no longer wanted to speak to his president Xi Jinping.

And to further add to the atmosphere, weekly unemployment statistics in the United States have once again shown the extent of the ravages caused by the pandemic with more than 2.98 million new requests for benefits last week. , exceeding expectations.

Sanofi retreat

Concerns were also felt a little on the European debt market, which tightened slightly on Thursday, with a more marked movement for southern European countries like Spain and Italy. In this very gloomy context, the majority of stocks in the CAC 40 index ended in the red, like Bouygues which fell sharply (-4.62% to 24.75 euros), penalized by a net loss in the first quarter and the absence of new forecasts. Sanofi also sold 1.46% to 88.18 euros after claiming that it would serve the United States first if it found a vaccine against the new coronavirus, arousing the ire of the French government. Axa (-2.32% to 15.17 euros) in Paris, Allianz in Frankfurt (-4.44% to 142.94 euros) or Prudential in London (-5.32% at 1,033 pence) did the costs of the Lloyd’s of London announcement which estimated the cost of the pandemic for the insurance sector in 2020 at $ 203 billion. In London, the technology sector recorded the heaviest losses, such as Sage (7.23% to 618.40 pence). (AWP / AFP)

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