PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended hesitantly on Tuesday, with investors remaining cautious before the publication of several key indicators this week.

In Paris, the CAC 40 dropped 0.24% to 7,229.45 points, while the German Dax finished without a marked direction and the British Footsie lost 0.19%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index ended the session with a decline of 0.23%, against a stable FTSEurofirst 300 and a Stoxx 600 in moderate decline (-0.09%).

Markets are awaiting new indicators this week, which will help sharpen the outlook for monetary activity and policy essential for risky assets.

On Tuesday, the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting will be published at 7:00 p.m. GMT, and could shed light on the debates that animate the members of the central bank’s board of governors.

Investors will be on the lookout for any element confirming their own monetary policy expectations, which estimate a 50% probability of a rate cut as early as May next year.

“If the FOMC Minutes confirm (Tuesday) evening the dovish (accommodative) reading of the market, the index could test and beat its annual high and thus follow in its wake the European indices which are slightly underperforming,” estimate the strategists from Natixis.

The other key publication will be Nvidia’s results, expected after the close on Tuesday.

The company has contributed to the good performance of equity indices in the United States this year, and a pleasant surprise on results and profit forecasts could benefit risky assets.

VALUES

LVMH fell 1.89% after UBS lowered its recommendation to “neutral” from “buy” on the luxury group, whose price target was reduced from 829.4 euros to 770 euros. The European luxury sector fell 0.59%, with Kering losing 0.93%. The Italian groups Salvatore Ferragamo and Moncler lost 3.33% and 1.28% respectively.

Car manufacturers reacted negatively to new car figures in Europe in October. Renault fell by 3.48%, at the bottom of the CAC 40, Stellantis by 1.79%, Volkswagen by 1.82%, Mercedes by 1.31%, BMW by 2.29%.

Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena fell 7.94% after Rome sold a 25% stake in the Italian bank on Monday evening.

Sonova jumped 5.39%, the Swiss hearing aid manufacturer having published its quarterly results on Tuesday and anticipated a smaller decline in turnover than expected by the markets.

Rheinmetall finished up 3.69%, with the German arms manufacturer forecasting better profitability by 2026.

A WALL STREET

Wall Street is retreating in a wait-and-see context, before the publication of Nvidia’s results and the Fed’s “minutes”.

At closing time in Europe, trading on the New York Stock Exchange indicated a decline of 0.23% for the Dow Jones, 0.28% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.84% ​​for the Nasdaq Composite.

RATE

Yields ended lower amid caution ahead of the release of minutes from the Fed’s latest policy meeting, and as investors worry about a slowdown in economic activity on both sides of the ‘Atlantic.

At the close of the European interest rate markets, the ten-year Treasury yield declined by 2.4 bp to 4.3984%, compared to 4.3 bp for the two-year rate, to 4.868%.

The German ten-year yield fell 6.2 bps to 2.555%, while the two-year yield fell 4.3 bps to 2.973%.

CHANGES

The dollar is looking for direction after data released the previous week, which raised hopes that the Federal Reserve has completed its rate hikes.

The dollar is stable against a basket of reference currencies, while the euro fell 0.12% to 1.0925 dollars. The pound sterling rose 0.28% to $1.2539.

OIL

Crude is eroding in a wait-and-see attitude before the next OPEC meeting on Sunday.

Brent fell 0.44% to $81.96 per barrel, and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) fell 0.54% to $77.41.

(Written by Corentin Chappron, edited by Kate Entringer)

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