by Claude Chendjou
PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to rise on Wednesday and European stock markets are moving in the green mid-session, supported in particular by banks and high technologies with the news around UBS, Alibaba and Infineon , but the underlying trend remains cautious ahead of several key macroeconomic indicators expected on Thursday and Friday. New York index futures signal a Wall Street open up 0.76% for the Dow Jones, 0.87% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.86% for the Nasdaq amid alleviation of fears about the banks. In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 1.21% to 7,174.26 around 10:50 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax advances by 0.91% and in London, the FTSE takes 0.78%.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.84%, the eurozone EuroStoxx 50 1.09% and the Stoxx 600 0.91%.
UBS (+1.44%) announced on Wednesday the surprise appointment of its former boss Sergio Ermotti, the current president of Swiss Re (+0.52%) as managing director to steer the takeover of Credit Suisse (+ 1.38%), the latest development to date deemed positive in the banking sector which is trying to recover from the recent turbulence.
The banks index on the Stoxx 600 posted a gain of 1.1% and that of finance an increase of 0.89%.
“The decision to recall Sergio Ermotti is very positive because it reduces the risks associated with the integration and execution (of the Credit Suisse takeover) by 80%”, comments Davide Serra, managing director of Algebris Investments.
Bank Vontobel, in a note, also welcomes the appointment of Sergio Ermotti as head of UBS, saying he is “the right person for this difficult task, given his experience in the successful transformation of UBS after the global financial crisis”.
The volatility index on the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 6.6% to 20.62 points, the lowest since March 10.
The trend in the markets remains fragile, however, ahead of the release of the fourth quarter GDP data in the United States (Thursday) and the February PCE price index (Friday), the preferred measure of inflation. by the US Federal Reserve (Fed).
German inflation for the month of March will be known on Thursday before the figures for the matter for the whole of the euro zone on Friday, while Peter Kazimir, a member of the European Central Bank (ECB), and Philip Lane, chief economist of the institution, ruled on Wednesday that interest rates had to rise further to contain the rise in prices.
VALUES IN EUROPE Meanwhile, on the stock market, the new technologies compartment, up 1.79%, recorded the best performance of the Stoxx 600, with in particular Infineon (+6.38%) which raised its financial forecasts for the whole year.
The sector was already supported by the reorganization of the Chinese giant Alibaba, which will split into six units. STMicroelectronics, ASML Holding, ASM International, BE Semiconductor Industries gain from 1.12% to 5.25%.
In other corporate news, Atos plunged 16.51%, the largest drop in the SBF 120 (+1.17%), and Airbus advanced 2.24%. The IT services group confirmed on Wednesday the end of their discussions on a stake in Evidian.
Mercedes-Benz (-1.84%) is for its part penalized by a possible partial disengagement of the Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund from its capital.
WALL STREET VALUES TO FOLLOW
CHANGES
The dollar stagnated (+0.06%) against a basket of benchmark currencies in a context of relative calm on the markets.
The euro and the pound sterling are also treading water at 1.0851 dollars (+0.07%) and 1.234 dollars (+0.01%) respectively.
RATE
The relaxation can also be seen in the yields of government bonds after the sharp increases in recent sessions: that of ten-year US Treasury bills is displayed at 3.5469% (-2 basis points) and that of the Bund German with the same maturity is trading at 2.29% (almost stable).
OIL
Oil prices strengthened for the third session in a row, still driven by supply concerns with the suspension of crude exports from Iraqi Kurdistan.
Brent rose 0.98% to 79.42 dollars a barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) gained 1.26% to 74.12 dollars.
NO MORE MAJOR ECONOMIC INDICATOR ON TODAY’S AGENDA
THE MARKET SITUATION:
(Some data may show a slight shift)
WALL STREET
Indices Last Var. Var. %
points
Dow Jones 32836.0 +248.00 +0.76%
0
S&P-500 4036.25 +34.75 +0.87%
Nasdaq-100 12835.2 +102.75 +0.81%
5
“The Day Ahead” – The point on the next
session on wall street [DAY/US]
The session
former :
Closing Indices Var. Var. %YTD
points
Dow Jones 32394.2 -37.83 -0.12% -2.27%
5
S&P 500 3971.27 -6.26 -0.16% +3.43%
Nasdaq 11716.0 -52.76 -0.45% +11.94%
8
Nasdaq 100 12610.5 -62.50 -0.49% +15.27%
7
MARKETS
EUROPEANS
Indices Last Var. Var. %YTD
points
Eurofirst 300 1775.00 +14.93 +0.85% +5.75%
Eurostoxx 50 4215.82 +47.61 +1.14% +11.13%
CAC 40 7,176.83 +88.49 +1.25% +10.86%
Dax 30 15,280.7 +138.74 +0.92% +9.75%
6
FTSE 7543.03 +58.78 +0.79% +1.23%
SMI 10929.8 +90.71 +0.84% +1.87%
2
The values to follow in Paris and in
Europe: [WATCH/LFR]
CHANGES
Standby Price Var.% YTD
Euro/Dlr 1.0856 1.0843 +0.12% +1.44%
DLR/Yen 131.89 130.86 +0.79% +0.59%
Euro/Yen 143.18 141.92 +0.89% +2.05%
Dlr/CHF 0.9178 0.9195 -0.18% -0.71%
Euro/CHF 0.9965 0.9974 -0.09% +0.70%
Stg/Dlr 1.2343 1.2340 +0.02% +2.03%
Index $ 102.504 102.430 +0.07% +6.58%
0 0
RATE
Last Var. Spread/Bund
(pts)
Future Bunds 135.970 -0.0500
0
10-year bunds 2.2950 +0.0100
Bund 2 years 2.6040 +0.0210
10-year OATs 2.8100 +0.0040 +51.50
10-year Treasury 3.5526 -0.0150
Treasury 2 years 4.0413 -0.0210
OIL
(in dollars) Preceding Price Var Var. %YTD
nt
US light crude 74.08 73.20 +0.88 +1.20% +21.03%
Brent 79.38 78.65 +0.73 +0.93% +20.22%
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)
Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.