European stock markets were bogged down in gloom this Wednesday morning, preparing for new initiatives to counter the surge of Covid-19 cases that threaten growth.
To read also: Business leaders distraught at the idea of a reconfinement from which they would not "recover"
At 9.50 a.m. (07.50 a.m. GMT), the Paris, Frankfurt and Milan stock exchanges slipped by more than 3%.
The CAC 40 index fell by 151.57 points to 4,579.09 points.
In Frankfurt, the DAX lost 3.40% and in Milan, the FTSE MIB was down 3.13%.
Their European counterparts were all down by more than 2%.
"
All the lights are in the red: the US presidential election induces its resurgence of usual risk aversion, economic figures are generally bad, except in Asia, and especially the re-containment at work in Europe
"
raises
fears for the recovery economic, explains Christopher Dembik, head of economic research at Saxo Bank.
"
In these circumstances, the pressure will increase on the ECB to take new support measures but, objectively, it is difficult to see what effective weapon it could draw in the face of the pandemic
", adds the expert.
Christine Lagarde will chair her eighth monetary policy meeting at the European Central Bank on Thursday and any new information on the financing of the economy will be particularly scrutinized.
The specter of re-containment
As a new round of restrictive measures looms in Europe with potential reconfinement scenarios, investors fear a heavy impact on the ongoing economic recovery.
Germany and France must decide this Wednesday, an additional turn of the screw in the hope of stemming the second wave of the spread of Covid-19.
Next to it, Italy, which is due to experience its worst recession this year since World War II, is seeing more and more protests against new measures limiting the activity of certain professional categories.
No major indicator was on the agenda, but a flood of corporate results.
The IT sector was hard hit: Atos was at the bottom of the CAC 40 (-7.70% to 57.80 euros).
Alten (-8.21% to 71 euros) and Sopra Steria (-12.1% to 102.70 euros) were largely overlooked by the decline in their turnover in the third quarter.
The automobile derailed: Renault plunged from 7.36% to 21.08 euros and PSA plummeted 5.72% to 15.26 euros although the manufacturer maintained its objectives for 2020. The equipment manufacturer Valeo slipped by 7.47 % to 25.16 euros after recording a decrease in turnover in the third quarter of 2020, but revised its objectives upwards.
The tourism sector was at the forefront of concerns around tightening restrictions that would only limit travel further.
The hotel group InterContinental Hotels lost 5.71% to 3,713.00 pence and IAG, parent company of British Airways, 5.52% to 91.04 pence.
Accor dropped 4.68% to 21.18 euros.
Carrefour, which saw its worldwide sales fall by 2.5% in the third quarter, in total variation at current exchange rates, dropped 3.01% to 13.20 euros.
Sodexo was sanctioned (-6.27% to 53.56 euros) after the announcement of a job protection plan project (PSE) which would involve the elimination of 2,000 jobs in France.
Read also: Reconfinement: managers under pressure are once again on a war footing
Teleperformance was alone in the green on the CAC 40 (+ 1.85% to 259.40 euros).
The group has entered into an agreement "
for the acquisition
" of Health Advocate, an American services company specializing in health, for an amount of 690 million dollars.
