The New York Stock Exchange started the session in the green on Thursday, on the way to a rebound after the fall of the previous day: the Dow Jones index gained 0.71%, the Nasdaq, dominant technology, 1.26% and the S&P 500 index 0.93% around 14:50 GMT.

In Europe, the indices moved not far from balance in Paris (-0.10%), Frankfurt (-0.15%) and Milan (-0.21%). London fell 0.76% after the Bank of England's decision to raise rates again to counter inflation.

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised its key interest rate by only a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday in a context undermined by the banking crisis.

And for the future, the majority of the 18 Fed officials anticipate an additional quarter-point rate hike.

If it had not raised rates at all, "markets would have received a signal that financial stability was not just about the anti-inflation rhetoric of almost a year, and that there would have been other underlying concerns in the banking sector," said Eva Sun-Wai, portfolio manager at M&G.

Following the recent bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the US authorities have taken steps to ensure the withdrawal of all deposits from SVB and Signature Bank.

The Bank of England (BoE) also raised its key rate by 0.25 points on Thursday, imitating the Fed and the Bank of Norway, while warning that "if inflationary pressures persist, a further tightening of monetary policy would be necessary".

The Swiss National Bank (SNB), which worked to secure the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS over the weekend, opted for a 50 basis point increase, as did the European Central Bank a week ago.

The shares of Credit Suisse (-2.60%) and UBS (-3.23%) were down sharply and the banking sector of the broader Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 1.54% around 14:50 GMT.

On the bond market, European government borrowing rates fell: the German 10-year debt rate was worth 2.25% against 2.32% at the close of the previous day and the British equivalent stood at 3.42%.

On the currency and oil side

The pound gave up much of its gains against the dollar on Thursday, after the Bank of England's decision to raise rates again to counter inflation.

Around 13:50 GMT, the British currency took 0.36% to 1.2313 dollar and 0.12% to 88.37 pence for one euro. Earlier, it had reached its highest in nearly two months against the dollar, at $ 1.2344 to the pound.

The dollar, meanwhile, is pulling back against other major currencies, hurt by the Fed's slightly more cautious tone in the wake of the turmoil in the banking sector.

Against the euro, the US currency lost 0.24% to 1.0882 dollar to the euro after falling to 1.0930 dollar, a low since early February.

Both the Norwegian krone and the Swiss franc reacted little after the announcements of their respective central banks.

Oil prices are falling: the barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in May lost 0.43% to $ 77.02, while the barrel of US WTI at the same maturity fell 0.35% to $ 71.17 around 14:00 GMT.

© 2023 AFP