Stock Markets – Closing Note - 12 Nov
European stock markets reversed to negative ground, driven by the behavior of the technological, automotive and industrial sectors. The technology companies were influenced in part by the performance of the US counterparts, more specifically by the news from Apple. Its sector fell 3.50%. In Frankfurt, SAP lost 5.65%, having agreed to acquire Qualtrics for 8 M.USD. Infineon depreciated by concerns about reduced demand. Conversely, it was the oil sector. Over the weekend Saudi Arabia announced a cut in production for December in response to the recent drop in prices. BP and Royal Dutch rose 1.18% and 0.34%, respectively. In Milan, the highlight goes to Telecom Italia that benefited from the news of an eventual merger with rival Open Fiber.
The behavior of Apple’s stocks dictated part of the course of the North American market. In fact, Cupertino’s stock fell more than 4.50%, after Lumentum Holdings, which manufactures technology for facial recognition for iPhones, has narrowed its outlook for the second fiscal quarter of 2019. This negative performance was detrimental the performance of the entire industry, including Alphabet and Amazon. On the other hand, in addition to the fears associated with global economic growth, the appreciation of the Dollar also pressured the stock market.