by Claude Chendjou
PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to rise on Wednesday in the wake of the rebound the day before on Wall Street, but the exchanges could still be marked by a certain caution, fears linked to central bank policies and the evolution of the economic situation being always present in the absence of new catalysts.
According to the first indications available, the Dax in Frankfurt should gain at the opening 0.84%, the FTSE 100 in London 0.4% and the EuroStoxx 50 index 0.76%.
“The tone is good, we have our little version of a Santa Claus rally,” Damian Rooney, a broker at Argonaut Securities in Perth, said, referring to the gains markets typically see at year-end. approaching the holidays.
If the rebound is confirmed, it will at least temporarily end the risk aversion that has dominated since last week’s meetings of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England. (BoE), the three central banks having stressed that the fight against inflation was far from over.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ), the last of the major central banks to still pursue an accommodating policy, surprised on Tuesday by announcing an adjustment in its control of the interest rate curve, a decision seen as a first step. towards the abandonment of the strategy, implemented for ten years in the archipelago, to fight against deflation and the beginning of a recognition that Japan is also confronted with a rise in prices.
In today’s macroeconomic agenda, apart from German consumer sentiment at 9:00 GMT, US consumer confidence and US home resales at 15:00 GMT, no other indicator is expected.
Final U.S. household spending and PCE inflation figures, due Thursday, may offer investors some new insight into the Fed’s rate path.
The week that is ending will also be shortened with the closing of the British markets on Friday at 1:30 p.m., while the stock markets in Europe and the United States will observe a break on Monday, the day after the Christmas holidays.
AT WALL STREET
The New York Stock Exchange ended up slightly on Tuesday, ending a series of four sessions in the red thanks in particular to support from energy and financial stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.28%, or 92.20 points, to 32,849.74 points.
The broader S&P-500 gained 3.96 points, or 0.10%, to 3,821.62 points.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced by 1.08 points (0.01%) to 10,547.11 points.
On the stock side, Tesla fell 8% as three brokerage firms lowered its price target amid growing concerns over weak demand and the turmoil linked to its boss Elon Musk’s takeover at Twitter.
IN ASIA
At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei index ended with a loss of 0.68% to 26,387.72 points and the Topix, broader, fell 0.64% to 1,893.32 points.
In China, the Shanghai SSE Composite lost 0.39% and the CSI 300 lost 0.18%.
RATE
In Asian trading, bond yields remain under pressure with the US ten-year gaining another four basis points to 3.72%, the highest in three weeks.
The yield of the ten-year German Bund ended for its part on Tuesday with a gain of 10.1 points to 2.29%, the fifth session in a row of increases.
CHANGES
At foreign exchange, the dollar is rising again, by 0.14% against a basket of reference currencies.
The euro is trading at 1.0611 dollars, down 0.09%, while the Japanese currency is trading at 132.13 yen per dollar.
OIL
Oil prices are broadly stable, with the sharper-than-expected decline in state crude inventories last week offsetting fears of a resurgence of the COVID-19 outbreak in China.
Brent rose 0.25% to 80.19 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 0.13% to 76.33 dollars.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)