Few changes in sight in Europe while waiting for the Fed
by Laetitia Volga
PARIS (Archyde.com) – The main European stock markets are expected to show little change at the opening on Wednesday, with caution dominating ahead of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy decision, which is expected to announce a further rise in interest rates.
The first indications available indicate a gain of 0.09% for the CAC 40 in Paris, 0.07% for the FTSE in London and a decline of 0.01% for the Dax in Frankfurt.
The Fed will make its monetary decision at 6:00 p.m. GMT, which will be followed at 6:30 p.m. GMT by a press conference by the president of the American central bank, Jerome Powell.
Faced with soaring inflation, a rate hike of half a point is widely anticipated by the market. Such a move by the Fed would be its biggest rate hike since May 2000.
Investors are mainly awaiting comments from the institution on the future path of rates, inflation and a possible announcement on the reduction of its balance sheet.
“It is possible that the Fed will announce a reduction in its purchases of Treasuries, up to $60 billion per month, and securitized home loans (MBS), by $35 billion,” said Michael Hewson at CMC. Markets.
Before the end of the Fed meeting, investors will follow the publication of several statistics including the final PMI indicators for the month of April and the monthly ADP survey of private employment in the United States (12:15 GMT), at two days of the Department of Labor’s monthly report.
A WALL STREET
The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Tuesday following a bumpy session as investors turned to high-growth stocks. [.NFR]
The Dow Jones index gained 0.20% to 33,128.79 points, the S&P-500 gained 0.48% to 4,175.48 points and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.22% to 12,563.76 points.
Big stocks like Apple (+0.96%) and Tesla (+0.7%) were big contributors to the gains in major Wall Street indexes.
Estée Lauder declined 5.8% following lowering its full-year profit forecast, citing health restrictions in China and the Ukraine crisis.
Western Digital was among the session’s best performers, surging 14.5%, following activist fund Elliott urged the IT group to spin off its underperforming flash memory business.
Futures contracts on indexes give an opening close to equilibrium for the moment.
IN ASIA
Markets are closed in Japan and mainland China for a public holiday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped -1.28%, penalized by the decline in technology stocks. Meituan lost -5.74% and JD Health International -12.67% following major shareholders reduced their stake in both companies.
EXCHANGES/RATES
The dollar is stable once morest a basket of currencies, with expectations of monetary tightening in the United States already firmly anchored in prices.
For its part, the euro is displayed at 1.0511 dollars.
In the bond market, the yield on ten-year Treasuries takes almost two basis points to 2.9751%
OIL
The oil market is trending higher following the American Petroleum Institute (API), according to market sources, announced a drop in crude oil and fuel inventories in the United States last week, increasing concerns regarding the offer.
Brent gained 1.14% to 106.17 dollars a barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) took 1.28% to 103.72 dollars.
(Written by Laetitia Volga, edited by)
