On the back of good corporate results, European stock markets have just completed another week of gains, setting new annual or historic records. Meanwhile, Wall Street was mixed. Risk appetite is still present for the time being, despite inflationary fears that could push central banks to prematurely reduce their monetary support. Europe's new Covid wave is also a cause for concern.
Indexes
Over the past week, indexes moved in a scattered order and it is New York with the worst performance. Asia recovered, the Shanghai Composite recovered 2.5%, the Hang Seng 2.45% while the Nikkei gave up 0.40%.
In Europe, the CAC40 recorded a weekly performance of 1.2%, the Dax gained 0.4% and the FTSE 100 0.6%. For the peripheral countries of the euro zone, Spain consolidated and lost 0.8%, Italy lost 0.5% while Portugal recovered 1.8%.
Across the Atlantic, inflationary fears and the rise of the dollar have weighed somewhat on the trend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 lost respectively 0.7% and 0.4% over the last five days and the NASDAQ 1.1%.
Equity Markets
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shareholders have been subjected to a new prank by Elon Musk, who put his intention to sell 10% of his shares in the manufacturer to the poll. Shortly after a positive vote - which made the stock lose 15% in two sessions, the leader has effectively sold $5 billion worth of shares.
To comply with the survey, other sales are planned. In the same sector, Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) has successfully completed its IPO. Two days after the IPO, the company was worth $105 billion, almost as much as Daimler (OTC:DDAIF), which has sold more vehicles in 30 minutes than Rivian since the company was founded.
Johnson Matthey (OTC:JMPLY), the specialist in fine chemicals and precious metals for advanced applications, took everyone by surprise when it announced the sale of its battery business, due to impossible competition. As a result, the company's "electric vehicle" premium has melted away and the stock has lost 19% in a single session.
Sika (OTC:SXYAY) has recovered 10% in one week after announcing the purchase of MBCC, a former subsidiary of BASF. The 5.5 billion Swiss francs price tag did not scare off investors, who are confident that the Swiss group will succeed in the integration. It is the biggest acquisition in Sika's history.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND), the American producer of vegetarian steaks, published yet another disappointing result, which earned it a brutal 20% drop for the week. When you are generously valued, being fashionable is not always enough to keep a stock afloat: results must follow.