File photo of traders in London, Britain
by Blandine Henault
PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to rise slightly on Thursday after its decline the day before, while European stock markets are moving on small variations at midday, the appetite for risk remaining limited with fears on the trajectory of rate in the United States and on the Chinese economy. New York index futures are signaling an opening up 0.22% for the Dow Jones, 0.24% for the S&P 500 and 0.27% for the Nasdaq. In Paris, the CAC 40 is unchanged at 7,261.90 points around 10:25 GMT after erasing its initial decline. In Frankfurt, the Dax is also stable while in London, the FTSE drops 0.13%.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.16%, the eurozone’s EuroStoxx 50 by 0.21% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.17%.
Wednesday evening’s release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) latest monetary policy meeting stoked fears that rates would stay high for an extended period as central bank officials showed determination to fight against inflation.
“One thing is certain, rate hikes are still on the table and rates will stay high for a long time,” said Anthi Tsouvali, multi-asset strategist at State Street.
In this context, the yield of ten-year Treasuries reached a peak of 4.312% on Thursday, approaching the peak of 4.338% reached on October 21, 2022. If it were to exceed this peak, it would return to 16-year highs. . WALL STREET VALUES TO FOLLOW
VALUES IN EUROPE
Several company announcements were poorly received on Thursday and contributed to the decline in equity indices in Europe.
The Dutch online payment company Adyen fell by 26.6%, by far the bottom of the Stoxx 600, after reporting first-half profit below analysts’ expectations and its own targets.
This plunge weighs on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (-1.1%), the lowest since early May.
In the wake of Adyen, Wordline fell 1.7% in Paris and showed the largest decline in the CAC 40.
For its part, BAE Systems dropped 4.2% after announcing the acquisition of the aerospace activities of the American Ball Corp for 5.5 billion dollars in cash.
RATES/EXCHANGES
Sovereign rates rebounded after the Fed’s “minutes”. At midday in Europe, the yield of ten-year Treasuries gained more than four basis points, to 4.2999%, and that of the German Bund of the same maturity gained 4.5 basis points, to 2.689%.
At the same time, the dollar is holding close to a two-month peak against a basket of benchmark currencies.
For its part, the Norwegian krone moved away from a six-week low against the dollar and the euro after the new rate hike by the Bank of Norway.
OIL
Crude prices are recovering after three consecutive sessions of decline, despite lingering fears over demand due to the weakening Chinese economy and the prospect of a prolonged restrictive policy from the Fed.
The barrel of Brent from the North Sea gained 0.8% to 84.12 dollars and that of American light crude rose 0.81% to 80.03 dollars.
MAIN ECONOMIC INDICATORS ON THE AGENDA FOR THURSDAY, AUGUST 17:
COUNTRY GMT INDICATOR PERIOD PREVIOUS CONSENSUS
USA 12:30 p.m. Unemployment claims week at 240,000 248,000
August 12
USA 12:30 Philly Fed Index August -10.0 -13.5
(Written by Blandine Hénault, with contributions from Shashwat Chauhan in Bangalore, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)