by Blandine Henault

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to rise on Thursday at the opening, in the wake of results above expectations from Nvidia which should support the technological compartment.

The ebb in bond yields and the salvo of very weak PMI indicators published on Wednesday – which pleads for an end to restrictive monetary policies – should also contribute to sustaining the trend.

According to the first indications available, the Parisian CAC 40 could gain 0.72% at the opening. Futures are signaling a rise of 0.58% for the Dax in Frankfurt, 0.5% for the FTSE in London and 0.62% for the Stoxx 600.

Futures on Wall Street indices are oriented in the green, in particular the Nasdaq (+ 1.3%), while the chip designer Nvidia, at the forefront of the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), has made reported a third-quarter revenue forecast of about $16 billion while analysts were expecting $12.61 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

In after-hours trading, Nvidia shares climbed more than 9%, reaching a historic high.

All eyes will now turn to Jackson Hole in the United States, where the Federal Reserve symposium opens on Thursday, with an intervention on Friday by the president of the American central bank, Jerome Powell.

The technology compartment in Europe should benefit from Nvidia’s announcements.

AT WALL STREET

The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply higher on Wednesday, in the wake of Nvidia, which rose ahead of the post-closing publication of its quarterly results.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.54% to 34,472.98 points. The S&P-500 gained 1.10% to 4,436.01 points. The Nasdaq Composite advanced for its part by 1.59% to 13,721.03 points.

IN ASIA

The Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 0.77% as the close approached and is on track to sign its fourth consecutive session of increases – its longest series since June – driven by the technology compartment after the announcements from Nvidia.

Chinese stock markets are trending in the green, benefiting from bargain buying and general positive sentiment in equity markets. The CSI 300 index gained 1.22% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong took 2.1%.

RATES/EXCHANGES

The yield of ten-year Treasuries is moving up slightly, to 4.207%, after having lost 13 basis points the day before to move away from the 16-year peak reached on Wednesday at 4.336%.

The decline in US rates is putting pressure on the dollar, which is also suffering from weak PMI data for August and a certain wait-and-see attitude before Jerome Powell’s intervention in Jackson Hole.

The euro advanced 0.1% against the greenback, at 1.0873, and moved away from a low since mid-June hit the day before.

OIL

Crude prices are changing little, pending Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday.

The barrel of Brent from the North Sea is stable at 83.19 dollars and that of American light crude oil (WTI) fell by 0.08% to 78.83 dollars.

(Written by Blandine Hénault, edited by Bertrand Boucey)

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