(ABM FN) The Brussels stock exchange recorded a cautious plus on Friday, in the run-up to an important inflation report from the US.
The Bel20 index rose by 0.2 percent to 3,864 points around eleven o’clock on Friday.
Investors’ attention focused on a number of important Belgian company results on Friday morning, but the macroeconomic picture was also not lost sight of.
According to KBC, the publication of the American growth figure on Thursday lit the fuse, because the door was suddenly wide open for a scenario with American interest rates that could remain higher for even longer. Growth in the first quarter stalled at 1.6 percent year on year, largely supported by consumer spending. But the economists had aimed for 2.4 percent growth, KBC said.
This 1.6 percent growth follows a fourth quarter in which the economy grew by 3.4 percent. Cooling down, in other words, and according to KBC that should in principle be good for the scenario of interest rate cuts by the Fed desired by the markets. But yesterday’s report also showed that core inflation has risen much more than expected. PCE inflation, the Fed’s preferred measure, rose to an annual rate of 3.7 percent in the first quarter, up from 2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 and a forecast increase of 3.4 percent. According to KBC, this means that interest rates may remain high for longer than expected.
PCE inflation for March is on the menu this afternoon, but according to market analyst Philip Marey of Rabobank, it is already clear that this will be a setback.
The euro/dollar rose to 1.0742.
Risers and fallers
Within the main index, both Solvay and Sofina reported gains of more than 2 percent.
Aedifica also did well and won 1.9 percent.
Deutsche Bank increased the price target for Melexis from EUR 80.00 to EUR 85.00 while maintaining the Hold recommendation. According to Deutsche, conflicting signals from the automotive sector call for caution regarding the chances of a soft landing in the sector. Melexis recorded approximately half a percent higher.
Cofinimmo’s quarterly results were in line with expectations. The net result of Cofinimmo’s core activities reached 55 million euros in the first quarter, with the transformation of the portfolio continuing. Cofinimmo was able to show a profit of 0.7 percent.
Based on the performance in the first quarter, Umicore has reiterated its outlook for the whole of 2024, according to an update from the globally operating materials technology and recycling group on Friday before the market opened. Umicore did not provide concrete figures for the first quarter on Friday. Umicore’s figures were 1.3 percent higher.
Proximus maintained strong commercial momentum in the first quarter of 2024 and achieved an excellent EBITDA increase of 5 percent, the telecom group announced on Friday morning. ING spoke of a strong start to the year and the share gained 4.3 percent.
Xior also announced strong quarterly results on Friday morning, with 6.9 percent rental growth on a comparable basis and an occupancy rate of 98 percent. The better-than-expected figures helped the share to a gain of more than 5 percent.
Bpost has reached an agreement with the Flemish newspaper publishers on newspaper distribution after June 30, 2024 and that message was well received at the fair. The share rose 2.5 percent.
Among the small caps, the QRF figures yielded a gain of 2.5 percent. Smartphoto and Roularta became almost 3 percent more expensive.
Source: ABM Financial News
ABM Financial News is a supplier of stock market news, video and data, both for real-time trading platforms and dealing rooms and for online and offline media publications. The information in this article is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments.
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