by Blandine Henault

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to rise on Thursday at the opening, in the wake of Wall Street and Asia as optimism prevails on an upcoming agreement on the debt ceiling in the United States .

According to the first indications available, the Parisian CAC 40 could gain 0.52% at the opening. Futures contracts are signaling a rise of 0.54% for the Dax in Frankfurt, 0.53% for the FTSE in London and 0.65% for the EuroStoxx50.

On Wednesday evening, Wall Street ended sharply higher after statements by Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House of Representatives “speaker” Kevin McCarthy, who reiterated their determination to find an agreement on the American debt ceiling and avoid the specter of default.

“It’s possible to get a deal by the end of the week,” Kevin McCarthy told reporters. “It’s not that difficult to reach an agreement,” he added.

“History teaches us that it is more likely than the other way around that a deal will be reached at the very last hour, which still leaves room for a negative news flow”, nevertheless underlines Rodrigo Catril, strategist on foreign exchange at National Australia Bank, in a note.

AT WALL STREET

With hopes of an agreement on the American debt, the indices of the New York Stock Exchange ended all three on increases of more than 1% on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones index gained 1.24% to 33,420.77 points. The broader S&P-500 gained 1.19% to 4,158.77 points and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.28% to 12,500.57 points.

The indices also benefited from the rebound of regional banks after the announcements of Western Alliance Bancorp, which reported an increase in its deposits over the past three months.

Western Alliance Bancorp jumped 10.19%, while the S&P-500 banking index recorded its highest daily percentage increase (+4.46%) since November 10.

IN ASIA

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei index advanced 1.47%, its sixth straight daily increase, and hit a 20-month high, driven by the Japanese government’s investment plan in the microchip sector. and by an increase in Japanese exports in April.

Mainland Chinese stock markets are also on the rise and the Hong Kong stock market is gaining more than 1%.

RATES/EXCHANGES

The dollar held Thursday near a seven-week high hit against a basket of benchmark currencies on Wednesday, buoyed by hopes of a US debt ceiling agreement.

The euro is thus under pressure and is moving to 1.0832 dollars after hitting a low of 1.0808 the day before, the lowest since April 3.

On the bond market, the yield on ten-year Treasuries fell in trade in Asia, to 3.564%, after climbing to 3.589% the day before, its highest since March 1.

OIL

The same optimism on the American debt pushed oil prices up nearly 3% on Wednesday, which are now retreating a little ground.

The barrel of Brent from the North Sea lost 0.39% to 76.66 dollars and that of American light crude oil (WTI) dropped 0.43% to 72.52 dollars.

(edited by Nicolas Delame)

Copyright © 2023 Thomson Reuters