European markets retreated shortly after opening on Friday, under pressure from bond yields and the fall the day before Wall Street, again made worried by travel restrictions linked to Covid-19.
Read also: Paris Stock Exchange: why prices are soaring
In Frankfurt the DAX index lost 0.37% around 10 a.m. (9 a.m. GMT), Paris dropped 0.68%, London 0.63% and Milan 0.49%.
The day before on Wall Street, the sharp rise in US bond yields caused the Nasdaq index to fall (-3.02%) and the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices down.
"
US long rates set the trend,
" said Christian Parisot, analyst for Aurel BGC on Friday morning, the fall in European yields on Friday morning was not enough to calm the ambient anxiety.
Falling oil prices
To the rise in yields was added the plunge in oil prices of 7% Thursday evening in a market not reassured by the outlook for demand, in the midst of a period of restrictions across the Old Continent due to the Covid-19.
A barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May regained some ground on Friday morning (+ 0.93%) to 63.87 dollars, and in New York, the US barrel of WTI for April was up 0.42 % to $ 60.31.
France is the latest country to be affected by the restrictions, with a third of residents due to be re-confined on Friday at midnight for at least a month.
However, the government maintained its forecast of 6% growth this year.
Read also: Stop for oil, WTI and Brent drop 7%
Asia was also making funny faces at the fence on Friday.
The Japanese Nikkei index lost 1.41% during a session marked by the decision of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to modify at the margin the conditions of its repurchases of giant assets to give itself greater flexibility.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange dropped 1.41% and Shanghai 1.69%.
AstraZeneca vaccine deemed "
safe and effective
"
On the geopolitical side, the top Communist Party official for Chinese diplomacy threatened the United States with "
firm measures
" against its "
interference
" during a meeting Thursday in Alaska.
Washington for its part accused Beijing of having shown "
demagoguery
".
"
The end of the pandemic will not necessarily encourage investors to open the champagne,
" ironically Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst for Swissquote Bank.
There was some good news, however, that gave the market some hope.
Italy, Spain, Germany and France in particular announced Thursday evening the resumption of vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which had been suspended as a preventive measure until the European Medicines Agency (EMA) the judge "
safe and effective
" Thursday.
In addition, the US president announced Thursday that the goal of 100 million vaccinations against Covid-19 would be reached on Friday, in advance.
French containment weighs
Companies linked to the resumption of economic activity in France were among the biggest drops in the CAC 40 index, under the effect of the new restrictions: Renault dropped 1.95% to 39.30 euros, Stellantis 2.14 % to 15.07 euros, Airbus 1.93% to 99.15 euros and Société Générale 2.17% to 22.32 euros.
Adidas suffers from Nike
The German brand (-1.39% to 283.00 euros) suffered from the mixed results posted by its competitor Nike at the end of the third quarter ending at the end of February.
The government sheds NatWest
NatWest bank rose (+ 1.65% to 193.65 pence).
The UK government has reduced its stake by selling £ 1.1bn of stock, which is bought back by the bank and largely canceled.
Wetherspoon suffers a loss
The chain of pubs (-1.44% to 1,301.00 pence) suffered a loss in the half-year ended at the end of January due to health restrictions.
It plans to reopen its establishments which have outdoor space on April 12 as planned by the government.
Profit taking in Germany
Profit-taking was observed on stocks which rose sharply this week.
In the air, MTU Aero Engines fell (-2.32% to 206.30 euros) as in the BMW automobile (-1.94% to 84.45 euros), Daimler (-1.40% to 73 , 29 euros) and Volkswagen (-0.43% to 222.10 euros after an increase of nearly 17% since Monday).
The euro and bitcoin go up
The euro rose 0.13% to $ 1.1929 while the pound rose 0.09% against the greenback, to $ 1.3945.
Bitcoin rose 1.11% to $ 58,141.
