by Blandine Henault
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to rise slightly on Wednesday at the opening, in the wake of the rise in futures on Wall Street, while investors await the publication in the evening of the results of the designer of chips Nvidia which should serve as a test for high valuations in the technology sector.
European investors will also take note in the morning of the “flash” PMI activity indices for the month of August which are likely to have an impact on the trend.
According to the first indications available, the Parisian CAC 40 could gain 0.22% at the opening. Futures contracts are signaling a gain of 0.32% for the Dax in Frankfurt, 0.08% for the FTSE in London and 0.09% for the Stoxx 600.
Nvidia, which hit an all-time high Tuesday in session, was the main beneficiary of the rise of ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications, which are virtually all powered by its graphics processors.
Its meteoric rise on the stock market largely explains the rise of the S&P 500 this year and the publication of the group’s results could therefore alone dictate the direction of the equity markets.
They also remain under pressure in the face of rising bond yields – the rate of ten-year US government bonds remaining close to its 16-year peak reached on Tuesday – and ahead of the Federal Reserve symposium in Jackson Hole.
VALUES TO FOLLOW:
AT WALL STREET
The New York Stock Exchange ended in mixed order on Tuesday, with only the Nasdaq ending marginally higher, amid heightened concern over the possibility that the Federal Reserve (Fed) decides to keep interest rates high for longer. than expected and while the banking sector has declined.
The Dow Jones index fell 0.51% to 34,288.83 points. The broader S&P-500 lost 0.28% to 4,387.55 points. The Nasdaq Composite advanced for its part by 0.06% to 13,505.87 points.
The S&P-500 banking index ended down 2.4% after S&P Global downgraded credit ratings and revised outlooks for several US banks.
Futures contracts on the major indices of the New York Stock Exchange are currently signaling an increase of around 0.2% to 0.3% at the opening.
IN ASIA
The Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 0.15% near the close after erasing its initial losses, encouraged by the positive orientation of futures on Wall Street.
Stock markets in mainland China fell while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong (+0.34%) tried to confirm its rebound from the previous day.
RATES/EXCHANGES
The yield on ten-year Treasuries fell by more than two basis points, to 4.306%, after peaking at 4.366% the day before, the highest since 2007.
The dollar remains close to a two-month high reached the previous day against a basket of benchmark currencies, with traders awaiting Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole on Friday for guidance on the future path of interest rates in the United States.
OIL
Crude prices regained some ground on Wednesday after being penalized in recent days by fears over demand with the difficulties of the Chinese economy and the prospect of high interest rates for a longer period than expected.
The barrel of Brent gained 0.08% to 84.10 dollars and that of American light crude (WTI) advanced by 0.16% to 79.76 dollars.
MAIN ECONOMIC INDICATORS ON THE AGENDA FOR AUGUST 23:
COUNTRY GMT INDICATOR PERIOD PREVIOUS CONSENSUS
FR 07:15 S&P Global PMI August 45.0 45.1
manufacturer “flash”
S&P Global PMI 47.5 47.1
“flash” services
S&P Global PMI 47.5 46.6
composite “flash”
DE 07:30 S&P Global PMI August 38.7 38.8
manufacturer “flash”
S&P Global PMI 51.5 52.3
“flash” services
S&P Global PMI 48.3 48.5
composite “flash”
EZ 08:00 S&P Global PMI Aug 42.6 42.7
manufacturer “flash”
S&P Global PMI 50.5 50.9
“flash” services
S&P Global PMI 48.5 48.6
composite “flash”
UK 08:30 S&P Global PMI August 45.0 45.3
manufacturer “flash”
S&P Global PMI 51.0 51.5
“flash” services
(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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