Brussels can choose direction after a great day
(ABM FN) The Brussels stock exchange was slightly lower on Thursday, but has struggled to choose direction ahead of the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision and after Wednesday’s rally that yielded a gain of more than 5 percent.
The Bel20 index was 0.8 percent lower at 3,858.71 points.
On Wednesday, the star index rose sharply, as did the stock markets in neighboring countries and on Wall Street, a solution to the war in Ukraine emerged. Ukraine’s President Zelensky appeared to be making some encores to the Russians, according to an interview.
“Today is mainly dominated by two important events: the ECB meeting and the annual annual figures. Christine Lagarde has a lot to think about because of the higher ambitions and between the EU and Russia,” said AvaTrade’s market strategist Naeem Aslam.
“We had previously assumed two rate hikes this year. As far as we are concerned, these are not completely off the table, but we do think that the ECB will indicate that it is keeping an eye on macroeconomic data even more and that it is in no rush to raise interest rates. The central bank could sound a little more relaxed,” Koen De Leus, chief economist at BNP Paribas Fortis, added.
“In Europe, I think we are in a better position than the States. Much of our sweet is through energy prices. Once this has started, it will also be tamed, and certainly if growth has not slowed down yet, it will be more difficult to calculate high prices,” says De Leus. “That way we are moving more towards stagnation with declining growth, but also one that does not happen by itself.”
The dollar gained strongly in recent weeks due to the war in Eastern Europe. Due to the possible way out, the euro recovered the one and a half percent. On Thursday, the currency pair will remain slightly more stable at 1.1038.
According to economist De Leus of BNP, safe havens such as the Swiss franc and the US dollar will remain strong over time. “In addition, there is the interest rate differential that attracts a lot of money to the dollar. I think America doesn’t mind that strong dollar so much, so they can avoid additional imports of it.”
Oil prices recovered several percent after a boom on Wednesday.
Risers and Fallers
Galapagos was able to add 1.8 percent to the star index. Solvay was down 2.4 percent again.
Melexis will disappear from the Bel20 index, but the share could still rise 0.8 percent. Telenet is also starting its seat and rose 1.1 percent.
WDP has acquired three adjacent sites in Dendermonde for 36.8 million euros. The stock gained 0.1 percent.
Ackermans & van Haaren are also doing well with a plus of 0.8 percent. Daughter CFE had something to do with that.
Construction and dredging group CFE went up 12.3 percent in the second line. The Dutch dredging company Boskalis received a takeover offer from Hal Trust with a hefty prime minister above the latest share price. This may give rise to hope for CFE’s dredging subsidiary DEME. DEME is spun off by CFE with its own stock exchange listing.
Gimv has sold its interest in the Wolf Lingerie Group to the NextStage fund and co-investors BNP Développement and BPI. The Gimv share fell 0.2 percent.
Care Property last started 43.2 euros in rental income in million with 36.2 million euros in 2020. The operating result increased over the past process from 32.9 million euros to 57.5 million euros. Healthcare real estate performed in line with expectations and presented a higher dividend and a positive outlook according to Kepler Cheuvreux. The stock still fell 1.4 percent.
Ascencio placed 25 million euros worth of bonds through a private placement. The stock gained 0.1 percent.
D’Il’I and VGP promote the Bel20 index and derived 2.1 and 0.3 percent.
In the BelSmall index, MDxHealth rose 3.4 percent and ban Celyad 9.9 percent.
Source: ABM Financial News
From Beursplein 5, the editors of Financial news from ABM keep a close eye on developments on the stock exchanges, and the Amsterdam stock exchange in particular. The information in this column is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make.