Before the bell: All eyes on China

Investors End the Week with Fresh U.S. Job Numbers. Brederode’s Earnings Under Pressure, but Don’t Be Fooled by the Cause.

While Santa Claus (Sinterklaas) left Belgium this morning, it seems he has already arrived in Beijing. The Chinese CSI 300 index climbed 1.3% as investors anticipate new stimulus measures from the Chinese government this Wednesday. Meanwhile, the oil market remained unfazed by OPEC’s decision to extend production cuts for another three months. Oil prices failed to recover following the announcement. In the U.S., the Dow Jones index closed 0.6% lower, capping off an otherwise strong trading week.

In Belgium, the update from Quest for Growth caught attention. The group’s net asset value fell to 7.11 euros per share, with a discount of approximately 45% as of November 30. Aedifica announced a 14 million pound investment in the UK, planning to rebuild and redevelop a demolished British care home. The National Bank of Belgium’s stock attracted interest as it hit its lowest price in more than 30 years. Bpost gained 3.5% after reporting a record-breaking day on Wednesday, delivering over 800,000 packages. Today, all eyes are on fresh U.S. job data, which is expected to drive market sentiment.

Mind the Euro

One often-overlooked factor in investing is the impact of currency fluctuations. For example, if you hold U.S. stocks, a mild decline in your investment could still result in gains thanks to an appreciating dollar, which increases the value of your holdings in euros. Brederode recently felt the reverse effect. Its private equity earnings fell from 139.1 million euros in the first half of the year to 109.3 million euros over the first nine months, largely due to the strengthening euro. Investors should not be misled by these figures when reacting to the earnings report. Since late September, the euro has weakened significantly against the dollar. This means the year-end figures could show the opposite effect if the euro stabilizes at current levels.

Servers Are Thriving

After weak results from companies like Dell, some investors expected Hewlett-Packard to disappoint as well. While it remains unclear how markets will react to HP’s performance, the most recent quarterly results are better than expected. The PC maker benefited from strong demand in its server division, driven by AI-related products. Revenue rose 15% to a record 8.5 billion dollars, exceeding expectations. Server revenue alone jumped 32% to 4.7 billion dollars. HP’s stock has already gained 27% this year, in line with the S&P 500. However, shares recently lost ground as investors focused on uncertain outlooks due to a weak PC market—a factor that will likely remain in the spotlight.

Did you know…

Brederode announced it has sold its entire stake in Sofina? Not long ago, Sofina was the largest holding in Brederode’s portfolio. sector, these are not expected to last. Our view? Those patient enough to wait until 2030 likely won’t regret investing in X-Fab.

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.