by CORENTIN CHAPRON

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to be in disarray at the opening on Thursday as results publications intensify in Europe, while markets digest the latest comments from the Federal Reserve and China’s efforts to support an increasingly ailing economy.

Futures contracts suggest an opening up 0.15% for the Parisian CAC 40, against a hesitant FTSE in London, and an increase of 0.28% for the Dax in Frankfurt and 0.36% for the EuroStoxx 50.

The opening of European markets should be driven by a new burst of results on Thursday.

In France, Vinci, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, Publicis and Kering will be monitored after the publication of their accounts.

Elsewhere in Europe, the results of Maersk, Siemens, AstraZeneca, Unilever or ArcelorMittal could cause the indices to react at the opening.

Across the Atlantic, the readjustment of markets to the Federal Reserve’s more cautious approach continues, with four members of the institution’s board of governors recalling on Wednesday that the central bank would wait until it was certain that inflation would return to its target. by 2% before lowering its rates.

Elsewhere in the world, the Chinese economy continues to slow down, with inflation published on Thursday showing a decline of 0.8% in January year-on-year, its biggest fall since 2009.

A set of measures intended to support the markets, taken in recent days, however, encourages investors.

A WALL STREET

The New York Stock Exchange ended up on Wednesday, the S&P-500 having once again broken its closing record, while the solidity of the quarterly results fueled the optimism of investors, who also listened attentively to the comments of Fed officials on interest rates.

The Dow Jones index gained 0.40%, or 156.00 points, to 38,677.36 points. The broader S&P-500 gained 40.83 points, or 0.82%, to 4,995.06 points. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 147.65 points (0.95%) to 15,756.64 points.

Ford rose 6% after announcing it was raising its dividend for the first quarter.

IN ASIA

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended up on Thursday, at its highest level since February 1990, driven by technology stocks following their counterparts on Wall Street. The Nikkei index gained 2.06% to 36,863.28 points.

Investor SoftBank Group jumped 11.06% after its holding company Arm reported sales and profits above market expectations.

Chinese markets ended mixed after the government appointed a new leader to head the local stock watchdog and the latest inflation data. This is the last session before the Lunar New Year, during which the Chinese markets will be closed. The Shanghai SSE Composite gained 1.3%, the CSI 300 declined 1.43%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index fell by 1.13%.

RATE

American yields are stable in a context poor in macroeconomic data.

The ten-year Treasury yield climbs 1.1 basis points to 4.1095%, while the two-year rate is unchanged at 4.4226%.

The yield on the German ten-year rose by 1.9 bp to 2.321%, while that of the two-year rate increased by 2.4 bp to 2.6417%.

CHANGES

The yen weakens after dovish comments from the Bank of Japan, which explained that future changes to its monetary policy will be gradual. The Japanese currency declined by 0.32% to 148.65 yen per dollar.

The dollar is stable against a basket of reference currencies, while the euro takes 0.14% to 1.0786 dollars, and the pound sterling 0.05% to 1.2631 dollars.

OIL

Crude markets edged higher after Israel rejected Hamas’ truce proposal, and as Energy Information Administration figures showed refined product inventories fell more than expected last week in the US. -United.

Brent advanced 0.45% to $79.57 per barrel, with American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) gaining 0.43% to $74.18.

(Written by Corentin Chappron, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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