by Blandine Henault

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to fall slightly at the opening on Tuesday, with caution prevailing before the publication of European PMI activity indicators in the morning and the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting. from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

According to the first indications available, the Parisian CAC 40 could lose 0.12% at the opening. Futures contracts signal a decline of 0.06% for the Dax in Frankfurt, 0.13% for the FTSE in London and 0.14% for the EuroStoxx 50.

European indices had a quiet session Monday in the absence of Wall Street, closed for a holiday. Positions were also limited by a certain wait-and-see attitude before several economic indicators expected during the week that market operators will be following closely to try to determine the future path of interest rates.

Investors had hoped at the beginning of the year that the central banks, in particular the Fed, would start to slow down the pace or even end their monetary tightening, but the unexpected resistance of the economy, which resulted in better than expected statistics , dampened these expectations while inflation remains high.

The S&P Global PMI indicators due in the morning in Europe, and considered a good barometer of the economy, should show a further improvement in activity in the private sector in February.

The PCE inflation figures in the United States, expected on Friday, will also be closely monitored, particularly in light of the “minutes” of the last Fed monetary policy meeting which will be published on Wednesday evening.

VALUES TO FOLLOW:

The session will be moderated by several business publications, including that of Engie in Paris and HSBC in London.

AT WALL STREET

Stock and bond markets were closed Monday on Wall Street due to Presidents’ Day.

Futures contracts on the major US indices are signaling a decline of around 0.3% to 0.4% at the opening on Tuesday.

IN ASIA

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down 0.21% after a PMI indicator showed manufacturing activity in Japan contracted at its fastest pace in 30 months in February.

The weakness is widespread across all stock markets in Asia. In China, the CSI 300 index fell by 0.28% and in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index lost 1.6%.

RATES/EXCHANGES

The yield of ten-year Treasuries gained nearly three basis points, to 3.855%, after hitting a peak on Friday at 3.929%, the highest since November. It had fallen back to 3.32% a month ago on expectations of a slowdown in the rate hike in the United States.

The change in expectations on the Fed’s monetary policy also supported the dollar, which is currently posting a gain of 1.7% in February against a basket of benchmark currencies.

The dollar index gained 0.15% on Tuesday and the euro was trading at 1.067 dollars (-0.11%).

OIL

The rise in the dollar is penalizing oil prices, which are also suffering from fears about the economy in the event of prolonged monetary tightening by central banks.

The barrel of Brent lost 1.2% to 83.03 dollars and that of American light crude dropped 0.08% to 76.28 dollars.

(Blandine Hénault, edited by Matthieu Protard)

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