PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are moving in small variations on Tuesday morning, investors digesting a strong burst of corporate results before the decisions of several central banks, including the American Federal Reserve (Fed) which begins a two-day meeting.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.22% to 7,410.90 points around 07:40 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 gleans 0.09%, while in Frankfurt, the Dax drops 0.28%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index fell by 0.14%, while the FTSEurofirst 300 and the Stoxx 600 were almost stable.

Futures on Wall Street point to an almost unchanged open for the Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s 500, while Nasdaq could advance 0.16% the day after a slightly higher session where the Dow Jones chained an eleventh consecutive session in the green.

The Fed is due to make its decisions on Wednesday at the end of its two-day meeting and the market is speculating on an ultimate rise in the cost of credit of 25 basis points in the current cycle of monetary tightening.

In the euro zone, where the European Central Bank (ECB), meets on Thursday, an increase of 25 basis points is also expected but uncertainty remains for the future.

In the micro-economy chapter, while waiting for the results in luxury from LVMH and in new technologies from Alphabet and Microsoft, scheduled for the evening, many publications are leading the discussions.

In Paris, Rémy Cointreau took 3.71%, the group showing confidence in a rebound in its growth in the second half after a sharp drop in sales in the first. Dassault Systèmes, on the other hand, fell 4.55% after its results.

Elsewhere in Europe, Unilever climbed 4.96% on the back of quarterly sales above expectations, while Adidas (+4.04%) benefited from the announcement of a reduction in its operating loss forecast.

The German group Bayer (-0.37%), which has revised down its profit outlook for the whole of the year, is sanctioned, as are the Dutch paints and coatings manufacturer Akzo Nobel (-1.02%), the British collective catering group Compass (-3.90%) and the Danish freight specialist DSV (-4.17%).

At the sector level in Europe, the compartment of basic resources (+ 2.62%) shows the best progress of the Stoxx 600, the main Chinese leaders having pledged on Monday to strengthen support for the economy.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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