(ABM FN) The Bel20 rose by 0.4 percent to 3,874.87 points on Friday, with the market helped by the well-received quarterly results of Microsoft and Google. Those stocks skyrocketed on Wall Street.
Brussels was also busy this morning with companies presenting their quarterly results, which were generally well received by investors. This was especially true for Proximus and Xior.
At the same time, the markets were again presented with US inflation figures on Friday.
Because disappointing inflation figures were also published on Thursday, the small setback this afternoon with PCE core inflation that remained stable instead of falling was no longer a disappointment for the market.
The PCE core index stood at 2.8 percent in March, in line with February and against a decline to 2.7 percent expected by economists.
Inflation that refuses to fall and disappointing growth in the American economy, “that quickly gives rise to the word stagflation,” said investment strategist Philippe Gijsels of BNP Paribas Fortis.
“It’s obviously way too early to think in that direction after some numbers like these. But it’s clear that it makes the markets nervous.”
According to economist James Knightley of ING, September is “the earliest opportunity for a rate cut” by the Federal Reserve.
On the bond market, the US ten-year yield was stable at around 4.70 percent in the early evening. The euro/dollar was also stable at 1.073.
Risers and fallers
Within the main index, Sofina was able to report a gain of 2.0 percent. WDP rose 1.9 percent and Aedifica 1.7 percent.
KBC recorded the strongest decline with a loss of 0.8 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 was 0.8 percent lower.
Cofinimmo’s quarterly results were in line with expectations. The net result from Cofinimmo’s core activities reached 55 million euros in the first quarter. Cofinimmo was able to show a profit of 0.8 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. “There are no major surprises in this trading update,” said ABN AMRO analyst Martijn Den Drijver, who did, however, point to Umicore’s statements that market conditions in the Battery Materials division are extremely difficult. Umicore rose 0.6 percent.
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. KBC Securities repeated the Accumulate advice on Friday with a price target of 8.70 euros. The share rose by 3.4 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. According to ING, the kotmadam now plans to divest for 220 million euros in 2024, while previously the target was 110 million euros. The better-than-expected quarterly update helped the share to a gain of 6.2 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 3.5 percent.
Among the small caps, Nyxoah rose 2.8 percent, while Texaf lost 2.6 percent.
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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