by Augustin Turpin
(Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to fall on Tuesday and the European stock markets are trading in mixed order at mid-session, a decline in technology stocks and financial services weighing on trade in a context of caution before the monetary policy meeting of the American Federal Reserve (Fed) on Wednesday. New York index futures signal Wall Street opening down 0.23% for the Dow Jones, 0.37% for the Standard & Poor’s-500 and 0.5% for the Nasdaq. In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.2% to 8,164.21 points around 11:25 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.07% and in London, the FTSE lost 0.2%.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.11%, the EuroStoxx 50 in the euro zone gained 0.1% and the Stoxx 600 lost 0.11%.
The financial services index fell 0.26%, with the decline led by Partners Group, whose shares lost 2.32% after the Swiss company reported stable annual profit.
Oil and gas stocks, up 0.62%, led the sector gains.
In Germany, investor morale improved more than expected in March, driven by expectations of an upcoming reduction in interest rates by the ECB and by Chinese growth.
In Japan, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) ended its negative interest rate policy on Tuesday by deciding on a first increase in the cost of credit in 17 years, a decision anticipated by experts which was not impact on financial markets.
The market is now awaiting announcements from the Fed on Wednesday, while doubts remain about the timing and extent of the first drop in the cost of credit across the Atlantic given the solidity of the latest macroeconomic data.
Traders currently forecast with a 54.7% probability that the Fed will cut rates in June, according to CME Group’s Fedwatch barometer.
In the euro zone, the vice-president of the European Central Bank (ECB) declared on Tuesday that the institution was ready to discuss a rate cut in June.
VALUES TO FOLLOW AT WALL STREET
Nvidia fell by around 1% in pre-market trading, on the second day of its annual developer conference (GTC) and after the presentation by the semiconductor giant for artificial intelligence (AI) of its new flagship product , the Blackwell B200 chip.
VALUES IN EUROPE
Unilever rose 3.25% after announcing the spin-off of its ice cream business as an independent entity as part of a new cost-cutting plan.
On the downside, Atos fell 22.33% after announcing the end of its discussions with Airbus concerning the split of its Big Data & Security (BDS) activity and the postponement “to the near future” of the publication of its annual results.
RATE
Eurozone bond yields remain stable as markets focus on the fallout from the BoJ’s decision.
The ten-year German Bund yield lost 0.5 basis points (bps) to 2.452%, with its US equivalent losing 2.0 bps to 4.3203%.
CHANGES
The Japanese yen fell 0.86% after the BoJ announcement, while the dollar advanced (+0.5%) against a basket of reference currencies, with the euro losing 0.24% to 1.0845 dollar.
OIL
Oil prices are catching their breath as the prospect of increased Russian exports is weighed against continued Ukrainian attacks on the country’s refineries.
Brent dropped 0.14% to 86.77 dollars per barrel, American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) losing 0.02% to 82.7 dollars.
THE SITUATION ON THE MARKETS
(Some data may have a slight lag)
(Writing by Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)
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