by Blandine Henault

PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to show little change at the opening, like the European stock markets, which changed little at midday on Wednesday, with investors hesitating to take clear-cut positions in a context of multiple questions and fears. .

The health of the Chinese economy remains a concern while the resilience of US activity calls for a prolonged restrictive monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. At the same time, concerns are growing about the state of form of the American banking sector after the warnings from the rating agencies.

New York index futures are signaling an opening down 0.07% for the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 and down 0.08% for the Nasdaq. In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.07% to 7,262.47 points around 11:20 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.05% and in London, the FTSE lost 0.42%.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.11%, the Stoxx 600 by 0.18% and the euro zone’s EuroStoxx 50 by 0.12%. WALL STREET VALUES TO FOLLOW

VALUES IN EUROPE

The insurance sector (+0.19%) is advancing in the wake of the results of Admiral Group (+5.5%) and Aviva (+2.5%), hailed by the market.

Strongest sectoral increase, the distribution compartment gains 0.78%, extending its progress for the third consecutive session.

RATE

Sovereign bond yields are losing ground after climbing the previous day on high rate expectations for longer than expected.

The yield on ten-year Treasuries dropped more than three basis points, to 4.185%, after hitting a peak the day before at 4.274%, the highest since October 2022.

That of the German Bund of the same maturity fell by almost three basis points, to 2.651%, after having reached 2.729% the day before, the highest since March.

The only exception, the yield on the UK ten-year Gilt rose almost three basis points to 4.614% after UK inflation data showed underlying price inflation remained elevated in July.

CHANGES

The pound sterling is about to achieve its strongest daily increase in nearly two weeks against the dollar, also driven by the latest inflation figures across the Channel.

The Chinese yuan is moving to a nine-month low, weighed down by fears about Chinese economic growth.

The euro is trading at 1.0914 to the dollar, up 0.1%.

OIL

Crude prices are changing little, before the publication at 2:30 p.m. GMT of official statistics on US crude stocks.

The barrel of Brent from the North Sea fell 0.26% to 84.67 dollars and that of American light crude also lost 0.26% to 80.78 dollars.

MAIN ECONOMIC INDICATORS ON THE AGENDA FOR AUGUST 16:

COUNTRY GMT INDICATOR PERIOD PREVIOUS CONSENSUS

US 1:15 p.m. Industrial Production July 0.3% -0.5%

(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Kate Entringer)

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