PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to open higher on Friday, with investors benefiting from a rebound in “tech” in the United States while awaiting the publication of the monthly report on American employment.

According to the first available indications, the Parisian CAC 40 is up 0.78% at the opening. Futures contracts suggest an increase of 0.79% for the FTSE in London, 0.89% for the Dax in Frankfurt and 0.82% for the EuroStoxx 50.

Meta and Amazon’s quarterly results surprised investors with their strength, sending both stocks higher in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

The rebound in tech stocks is supporting risky assets, while a burst of results is expected in Europe.

Quarterly figures from Caixabank, Unicredit and Electrolux, in particular, will liven up the markets at the opening.

Investors are also positioning themselves for the publication at 1:30 p.m. GMT of the monthly employment report from the US Department of Labor, which will provide more information on the trajectory of the labor market in the United States.

Wage pressures remain one of the main factors of inflation in the United States, as the Federal Reserve reiterated during its last monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

As investors continue to bet on significant monetary easing in 2024, stronger-than-expected resilience in the labor market could reignite fears that the Fed will not cut rates as sharply as expected, while its chairman, Jerome Powell has already ruled out the possibility of a first decline in March.

A WALL STREET

The New York Stock Exchange ended up on Thursday, rebounding the day after the press release from the American Federal Reserve (Fed) which dashed hopes of an imminent rate cut and while awaiting quarterly results from technology giants.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.97% to 38,519.84 points. The broader S&P-500 gained 1.25% to 4,906.19 points. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.30% to 15,361.64 points.

IN ASIA

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended up on Friday in the wake of Wall Street the day before. The Nikkei index gained 0.41% to 36,158.02 points and the broader Topix gained 0.21% to 2,539.45 points.

Nippon Television Holdings jumped 22.84% after the company said it would pay dividends to foreign shareholders who were not registered in the shareholder register. Its counterpart TV Asahi Holdings advanced 17.57% and Fuji Media Holdings 7.39%.

Chinese markets are heading towards their worst weekly performance in five years, with sentiment remaining very poor despite the support measures taken by the authorities. The Shanghai SSE Composite lost 2.39%, the CSI 300 2.01% and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index 0.17%.

RATE

US yields rise slightly ahead of the monthly jobs report.

The ten-year Treasury yield climbs 1.7 basis points to 3.8798%, while the two-year rate rises 2.1 bps to 4.2145%.

CHANGES

The foreign exchange market is calm in a wait-and-see environment.

The dollar declined by 0.04% against a basket of reference currencies, while the euro gained 0.06% to 1.0878 dollars and the pound sterling 0.05% to 1.2748 dollars.

In Asia, the yen strengthened by 0.03% to 146.38 yen per dollar, while the Australian dollar gained 0.41% to 0.6596 dollars.

OIL

Oil is up slightly after OPEC decided to maintain production at current levels.

Brent advanced 0.18% to $78.84 per barrel, with American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) gaining 0.11% to $73.9.

(Written by Corentin Chappron, edited by Bertrand Boucey)

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