PARIS / LONDON (dpa-AFX) – At the end of a positive trading week, the most important stock exchanges in Europe have increased slightly. The Eurozone leading index EuroStoxx 50 (EURO STOXX 50) climbed by 0.53 percent to 3776.81 points on Friday. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.14 percent to 6553.86 points, while Britain’s FTSE 100 ended up 0.47 percent to 7500.89 points. At the end of trading in Europe, stock market sentiment in the US was positive, with the technology sector rising more sharply than the blue chips.
In the middle of the week, a slightly lower rate of inflation in the USA gave the stock exchanges a boost worldwide. However, as several experts have warned, it is premature to hope that inflation will abate soon and that interest rates will be somewhat less tight. You don’t have to be an expert to see that this is a rather one-time effect of falling gas prices, commented analyst Craig Erlam from broker Oanda. “Of course, that won’t shake the Fed’s course.”
“The level of inflation remains high and represents a serious threat to the economy in both Europe and the USA in the medium term,” warned Andreas Lipkow, market expert at Comdirect. There can be no talk of a trend reversal./ajx/he