by Laetitia Volga

PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to open moderately lower on Friday pending quarterly results from major US banks, while the trend in Europe remains supported by the prospect that the Federal Reserve will soon end its rate hike.

The “futures” on New York indices are signaling an opening down, but it will probably be necessary to wait for the publication of the quarterly results of JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo to see the trend take shape.

For now, the Dow Jones and the Standard & Poor’s-500 are down 0.2% and the Nasdaq 0.35%.

In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.25% to 7,499.27 around 10:40 a.m. GMT, after a historic peak at 7,509.34 thanks also to the good results of Hermès. In Frankfurt, the Dax took 0.21% and in London, the FTSE won 0.34%.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.34%, the Eurozone EuroStoxx 50 0.22% and the Stoxx 600 0.37%.

Many investors expect the Fed to raise interest rates only once between now and the end of the year, given an improvement on the inflation and stock market fronts. work.

Based on rate expectations, the US central bank is expected to raise the fed funds rate target by a quarter of a point in May, then start to cut from July.

Atlanta Fed Chairman Raphael Bostic, a non-voting member of the FOMC, indicated that another 25 basis point hike could allow the bank to end its tightening cycle while ensuring that inflation gradually return to the 2% target.

“The risk of the Fed overdoing it and causing a hard landing in its fight against inflation has faded,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg. “It supports the general ‘risk on’ mood in the markets. Earlier, the unexpected decision by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to keep its policy unchanged, like the Canadian and Australian central banks, was a blow. boost to Asian stock markets.

WALL STREET VALUES TO FOLLOW

Investors are now awaiting results from several major US banks after recent tensions in the sector.

“We will follow discussions on deposits, credit criteria and any adjustments to bank funding that may be planned,” NatWest Markets analysts said.

In pre-market trading, Boeing lost more than 4% after announcing an interruption in the delivery of certain 737 MAX because of a quality concern at the supplier Spirit.

VALUES IN EUROPE

The day after the good reception reserved for the quarterly sales of LVMH, the publication by the competitor Hermès of an increase in turnover exceeding expectations is greeted by a gain of 0.98% in its share price.

The action of the saddler reached a new peak, at 1,984.60 euros, as did LVMH (+0.67%) at 894.50.

Alstom fell 3.10% after the announcement of the departure of its chief financial officer and a lowering of advice from Deutsche Bank to “keep”.

On the mergers and acquisitions side, Dechra soared 34.94%, the British manufacturer of veterinary pharmaceutical products having declared that it was in discussions with the EQT fund with a view to a possible takeover offer at 4.63 billion pounds (5 .23 billion euros).

EXCHANGES/RATES

The dollar is heading for its longest streak of weekly losses in almost three years as traders expect an imminent end to the Fed’s rate hike cycle.

The greenback lost 0.12% against a benchmark basket and more than 1% over the week.

The euro rose very slightly, to 1.1058 dollars.

Benchmark bond yields are down slightly, at 3.4355% for ten-year Treasuries and 2.362% for its German equivalent.

OIL

Oil prices rose on Friday as the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it expects global demand to hit a record high this year on the back of a recovery in Chinese consumption.

Brent gained 0.38% to 86.42 dollars a barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 0.4% to 82.49 dollars.

(Laetitia Volga, editing by Kate Entringer)

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