Dusseldorf While the decline in profits at the big US financial institutions dampened the mood of investors on Wall Street last week, there now seems to be a reversal: both the leading index Dow Jones and the broader S&P 500 and the technology index Nasdaq 100 rose noticeably.
The better-than-expected result from the second largest US lender, Bank of America, which boosted its shares by more than six percent, was also taken as a positive sign on Wall Street. The end of the bear market has not yet been reached, says stock market expert Markus Koch and gives an overview of the effects of the strong dollar, the looming recession and the announced rise in interest rates.
The refinery strike in France
Also: Due to the strike by the French employees of Total Energies and Exxon Mobil, which lasted more than two weeks, around a third of all petrol stations in France cannot offer any fuel. But it’s no longer just the employees of France’s refineries: the left-wing alliance Nupes is calling for a demonstration “against the expensive life”. In the coming days, railway and local transport employees will also temporarily stop working.
“In France there is a somewhat fragmented trade union landscape,” explains Handelsblatt France correspondent Gregor Waschinski. He sees the more left-wing, more radical trade union CGT (Confédération Générale du Travail) as the driving force behind the strikes.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
In the podcast, Waschinski talks to host Ina Karabasz about the domestic political effects of the strike: “France is also struggling with high gas and energy prices. So the problems caused by the strikes are just another drop that broke the camel’s back,” said Waschinski.
The French government under Emmanuel Macron is circumventing strike resistance with measures such as making essential workers subject to the obligation to provide care. “It is true that there are many demonstrations going on at the moment, but surveys have also shown that the majority of the French population is not satisfied with the actions of these individual unions and they just want their gas back,” explains Waschinski.
We have an exclusive subscription offer for you as a Handelsblatt Today listener: test Handelsblatt Premium for 4 weeks for 1 € and stay informed about what’s moving the financial markets. More information is available here.
If you have any comments, questions, criticism or praise for this episode, please email us at: [email protected]
We can now be reached on WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram via the following number: 01523 – 80 99 427