Amsterdam stocks opened flat on Friday morning as investors trod carefully after three straight days of declines. Renewed inflation fears hung over the market following a sharp surge in oil prices sparked by Middle East conflict. With the European Central Bank hiking eurozone interest rates for the second time this year to curb rising prices, trader attention shifts to whether the US Federal Reserve will take similar action following fresh US inflation figures released today.
The AEX dipped 0.1 per cent to 1,092.36 points, putting the index on track for a weekly drop of almost 2 per cent. The MidKap index matched that 0.1 per cent drop to land at 1,088.20 points, and London slipped slightly by 0.1 per cent. Meanwhile, markets in Paris and Frankfurt bucked the trend, picking up gains of up to 0.5 per cent.
Oil markets cooled slightly after a volatile week, with Brent crude easing 2 per cent to $105.29 a barrel. This drop follows a 6 per cent rally triggered by Houthi forces seizing the Yemeni city of Mokha, bringing them closer to the vital Bab al-Mandeb shipping route. Despite staying below April’s high of $126, oil is up nearly 80 per cent this year, leading the ECB to warn that inflation will linger above its 2 per cent target despite improving growth prospects.
Financial shares provided the main support for the AEX, with Aegon, ING, ABN AMRO, ASR, and NN Group all advancing by roughly 1 per cent. On the downside, information publishers RELX and Wolters Kluwer led the losses with drops of more than 1 per cent, while energy giant Shell gave back 0.8 per cent as oil prices dropped back.
@anp | NEWS BRAINPORT
