Close higher in Brussels after US inflation

(EBMFN) The Brussels Stock Exchange closed in the green on Tuesday, with the Bel20 index rising 0.2 percent to 3,749.94 points.

Solvay outperformed the Star Index with prices rising nearly 5 percent. The chemical group will present its annual figures on Wednesday.

Tuesday was all about US inflation, which turned out to be higher than expected in February, sending US bond yields higher.

Inflation rose by 0.4 percent on a monthly basis in February, after rising 0.3 percent in January, bringing the annual rate to 3.2 percent, compared to 3.1 percent in January.

Core inflation rose by 0.4% on a monthly basis, which equates to an annual rate that only decreased from 3.9% in January to 3.8% in February. Economists had expected a decline to 3.7 percent.

In an interview with ABM Financial News, Bernard Kibben, chief economist at CBC Bank, noted, “These numbers confirm that inflation will fall slowly and that the Fed will therefore remain dovish and will not cut interest rates until June, and that interest rate cuts will continue.” “Continuing after that will be cautious and spread out.”

According to Kippen, this is bad news for President Joe Biden, as inflation has risen due to higher gasoline prices and because the slow process of lowering interest rates is not working in his favor.

“On the other hand, nothing has changed for the financial markets,” the CBC Bank economist said. “Interest rates will actually fall, supporting equity markets, while bond yields will recover slightly.”

The euro/dollar fell to 1.091 on Tuesday and oil became approximately 0.3 percent more expensive.

The risers and the fallers

Solvay led Tuesday with a price increase of 4.8 percent, followed by Abiram, which rose 4.0 percent.

Barclays raised its price target for D'Ieteren from €220 to €255 and maintained its buy recommendation. When setting the new target price, Barclays took into account a 20% discount. Deterin shares rose 2.6 percent.

Elia and WDB lost 3.7 and 2.6 percent and finished at the bottom of the Star Index.

Syensqo, whose results in the second half of 2023 were largely in line with expectations according to ING, fell 1.8 percent. However, the bank described the outlook for 2024 as rather poor, which explains the decline in the chemical company's share price.

Degroof Petercam raised its price target for Lotus Bakeries to €6,866, but repeated its downgrade advice. DeGroff believes the valuation is simply too high. The biscuit maker lost 0.1 percent at 8,960 euros.

EVS, up 3.6 percent, benefited from a price target increase by ING, which believes the company's growth prospects are not yet adequately priced.

IBA and Titan Cement lost 4.4 and 3.1% and finished at the bottom of the BelMid Index.

Among small caps, Atenor rose 3 percent, while Onward Medical fell 6.7 percent.

Source: ABM Financial News

ABM Financial News is a resource for stock market news, video and data, both for real-time trading platforms and trading rooms and for online and offline media publications. The information in this article is not intended to provide professional investment advice or a recommendation to make particular investments.