The Hungarian stock market is falling, BUX is the weakest in Europe today

Disney is starting the second round of layoffs, bringing the number of laid-off employees to 4,000. According to the company’s previous announcement, the company plans to lay off a total of 7,000 people, which is 3 percent of the total workforce, and they hope to save $5.5 billion from this. Following the news, Disney’s shares are up 0.7 percent on the American stock market.

The share price of luxury goods distributor LVMH rose to a new historic high in today’s trading, after the owner of the Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Bulgari brands caused a pleasant surprise with its first quarter numbers. The company’s revenues rose by 17 percent, which is more than double the growth rate expected by analysts.

In today’s trading, the company’s market capitalization reached 500 billion dollars, the first among European companies.

According to the management, LVMH benefited from the fact that China opened up after the coronavirus epidemic and with the return of travel, buyers of luxury goods appeared again. Hoping for an upswing in Chinese consumers’ spending, the prices of other luxury companies also rose in today’s trading, Richemont, Kering and Burberry also went up.

The mood on the European stock markets is upwhile investors are waiting for the macro data coming in the second half of the week, the first quarterly corporate reports are coming one after the other.

The telecom sector is performing the weakest on the European stock markets today, while the financial sector index is leading.

Among the most important European rapid reports, the Philips, the company’s shares jumped 12 percent after the company reported better-than-expected revenue and results. In the quarter, reorganization and legal costs worsened the numbers.

The Hungarian stock market is weak, among the leading European indices, BUX shows the biggest fallafter among the blue chips OTP fell by more than one and a half percent, and Mol is down nearly 3 percent.

What are the current events on the stock exchanges?

• Friday’s American Purchasing Managers’ Index data showed a better-than-expected performance in the industry as well as the service sector. Although the data in itself can be called favorable, investors were not happy at first, as the better-than-expected economic performance increases the chance that the Fed will start cutting interest rates later. After the initial drop and uncertainty, however, by the end of the day, both US stock markets and the dollar returned to close to pre-publication levels. The leading US stock indexes closed with gains, the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also rose by 0.1 percent.

• Asian stock markets are showing a bullish mood this morning, the Nikkei is up 0.01 percent, the Hang Seng is down 1.46 percent, while the CSI 300 is up 0.58 percent.
• The day can start with a search for direction on the European stock exchanges, based on the current status of the future stock indices, the DAX may rise by 0.57 percent, the CAC may fall by 1.08 percent, while the FTSE may fall by 0.26 percent.
• American stock markets may open with a fall, based on the current state of the future stock indices, the Dow Jones may open 0.38 percent lower, the S&P 500 may fall 0.42 percent, while the Nasdaq may fall 0.45 percent.

What can be expected on the macro front?

The beginning of the week will still be quiet from the point of view of macro data, today only one German IFO economic sentiment index can be highlighted from the calendar, there will be no noteworthy events at home. On Tuesday, the events will pick up, as the Ministry of Finance will announce the detailed report of the public finances for March in the morning, followed by the meeting of the Monetary Council of the MNB. The latter can be exciting after a long time, since Vice President Barnabás Virág already predicted last week that a decision is expected to be made on a significant reduction of the 25 percent upper edge of the interest rate corridor. This can start a multi-step process, which in a few months can lead to a reduction of the 18 percent benchmark interest rate. The main question will be how much the central bank will reduce the ceiling of the interest rate corridor, and how it will communicate possible further steps.

What has happened on the stock markets so far?

• Among the leading American, Asian, European and regional stock indexes this year, the Nasdaq index is at the top with an 18.8 percent shift, while the BUX index is the driving force with a 0.7 percent increase.
• Magyar Telekom’s share performed the best among domestic blue chips this year with a 24.8 percent increase, Richter’s paper is at the bottom of the list with a 3.6 percent fall.
• Among the most important raw materials, the price of gold has risen by 8.9 percent since the beginning of the year.

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