by CORENTIN CHAPRON
PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to fall at the opening on Friday in a context of caution, while European stock markets advance at mid-session and oil climbs against a backdrop of growing tensions in the Middle East.
New York index futures suggest an opening down 0.26% for the Dow Jones, 0.12% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.27% for the Nasdaq.
In Paris, the CAC 40 advanced 0.82% to 7,447.85 points around 11:40 GMT, compared to 0.67% for the FTSE in London. The Dax in Frankfurt gains 0.67%.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.72%, compared to 0.69% for the EuroStoxx 50 and 0.67% for the Stoxx 600.
American investors are digesting the CPI inflation data published on Thursday, which surprised on the upside, and are positioning themselves before the opening of the corporate results season.
The day will be busy: the markets are notably awaiting figures from JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and BlackRock as well as producer prices, which will be published at 1:30 p.m. GMT.
Morale in the euro zone is more optimistic after Christine Lagarde declared Thursday on France 2 that rates had probably reached their peak, despite inflation slightly rebounding in the euro zone in December.
UK GDP also came in stronger than expected in December, reassuring investors about the trajectory of the UK economy.
Geopolitical concerns, which are causing oil to surge, are not affecting the optimism of risky assets in Europe.
OIL
The bombing of Houthi targets in Yemen by the United States and the United Kingdom has raised fears of an escalation of the conflict and a blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, an essential passageway for oil ships.
Brent rose 4.1% to $80.58 per barrel, its highest since December 27, and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) rose 4.25% to $75.08.
VALUES TO FOLLOW IN WALL STREET
In addition to the banks’ results, investors will also be watching Tesla, which has lowered the prices of some of its models sold in China, and will suspend most car production at its Berlin factory from January 29 to February 11.
VALUES TO FOLLOW IN EUROPE
Burberry on Friday lowered its full-year profit forecast for the second time in three months, sending the stock down 9.92%. In its wake, competitors LVMH and Kering fell by 1.62% and 2.41% respectively.
Airbus gains 2.24% after reporting a record number of aircraft orders in 2023.
Casino is volatile after the green light from shareholders and creditors to the safeguard plan for the heavily indebted group, and increases by 1.14%.
Carmat plunged 10.73%, the manufacturer of artificial hearts having announced a postponement of the repayment of the loan taken out with the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Major shareholders of digital record label Believe have been considering delisting the company in recent weeks, sources told Reuters. The stock fell by 2.46%.
Maersk takes 0.65%, while the German group Hapag Lloyd advances by 1.94% and the Norwegians Frontline and Hafnia rise by 5.67% and 5.12% respectively after the Western strikes in Yemen.
RATE
European yields are falling after comments deemed encouraging by Christine Lagarde on the trajectory of interest rates in the euro zone.
The German ten-year yield weakened by 3.6 bp to 2.17%, that of the two-year rate lost 5.4 bp to 2.579%.
The ten-year Treasury yield nibbles 1.3 bps to 3.988%, while the two-year is stable at 4.2658%.
CHANGES
Like European yields, the euro is falling after Christine Lagarde’s comments which come almost three weeks before the next ECB monetary policy meeting, on February 1.
The single currency lost 0.17% to 1.0951 dollars.
The greenback advanced 0.14% against a basket of reference currencies while the pound sterling lost 0.22% to $1.2732.
(Written by Corentin Chappron, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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