PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street appeared to be heading for a slightly higher session on Wednesday as European stocks rose cautiously mid-session, as hopes of a reopening in China were tempered by concerns over rising interest rates. interest and economic prospects.
Futures contracts give a gain of 0.27% for the Dow Jones, 0.28% for the Standard & Poor’s-500 and 0.23% for the Nasdaq.
In Paris, the CAC 40 gains 0.18% to 6,562.31 around 11:55 GMT and in Frankfurt, the Dax nibbles 0.03%. On the London Stock Exchange, which is reopening after a long weekend, the FTSE is catching up and takes 0.93%.
The euro zone’s EuroStoxx 50 fell 0.09%, the FTSEurofirst 300 advanced 0.43% and the Stoxx 600 0.46%.
Volumes on the Stoxx 600 and on the CAC 40 represent less than 20% of their daily average for the past month.
With just three sessions left before the New Year, investors are trying to see the glass half full, hoping for an economic rebound in China, but inflation, the theme that has driven markets for most of 2022, and the risk of recession continues to cause concern.
Beijing announced earlier this week new measures to ease its anti-COVID-19 policy, an initiative deemed positive for the global economy but with significant inflationary potential according to market participants.
Reopening is “a double-edged sword for inflation,” said Stephen Innes, at SPI Asset Management.
“As China resumes its role as a global supplier, supply chain bottlenecks are being reduced. But the bad news is that with (expected) growth accelerating in the first quarter, demand China’s insatiable appetite for commodities and energy will drive prices up, much to the chagrin of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank,” he said.
The MSCI global stock market index has so far posted an annual drop of around 20% – its worst performance since the 2008 financial crisis – due in particular to the tightening of central bank monetary policies.
WALL STREET VALUES TO FOLLOW
VALUES IN EUROPE
The European mining sector (+1.59%) recorded the strongest increase, the price of copper having reached its highest level in two weeks on the hope of a recovery in demand in China.
EXCHANGES/RATES
On the government bond market, the ten-year German fell around 2.47%. It jumped about 12 basis points the day before and hit a more than two-month high on expectations of rate hikes from the European Central Bank.
The yield on ten-year Treasuries fell, dropping three basis points to 3.826%, after posting a high since mid-November at 3.862% on Tuesday.
The greenback fell 0.05% against a basket of benchmark currencies. The euro, at 1.0649 dollars, is stable..
OIL
Both benchmark oil contracts retreated as rising COVID-19 cases in China, the world’s largest importer, raised fears of disruption to the country’s economic recovery.
Brent fell 0.43% to 83.97 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 0.36% to 79.24 dollars.
(Laetitia Volga, editing by Kate Entringer)
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