by Augustin Turpin

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to fall at the opening on Wednesday, as investors prepare to receive comments from officials of the American Federal Reserve (Fed), which will conclude its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday monetary.

According to the first available indications, the Parisian CAC 40 could lose 0.68% at the opening while the index could be penalized by the profit warning launched by Kering, likely to weigh on the entire sector of the luxury.

Futures contracts report a decline of 0.03% for the Dax in Frankfurt, 0.04% for the FTSE in London and 0.32% for the Stoxx 600.

After the Bank of Japan (BoJ) on Tuesday, attention is now focused on the Fed and the latest economic projections – the “dot plot” – which could increase the number of interest rate reductions from three to two, or even to push back the entire reduction schedule.

The latest U.S. inflation data has brought bets on the first rate cut in June to around 59%, from around 69% early last week, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.

Several European Central Bank officials, including Christine Lagarde at a conference in Frankfurt, will also speak later today. Some of them felt that June would be the best month to start discussing ECB rate cuts.

A WALL STREET

The New York Stock Exchange ended higher on Tuesday, on the eve of the conclusion of the Fed governors’ meeting, with Nvidia having recovered its losses from the start of the session.

The semiconductor maker’s stock ended the day up 1% after providing more details on pricing and delivery plans for its Blackwell B200 artificial intelligence chip.

According to Michael James, an analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles, Tuesday’s gains were tied to improved sentiment after Nvidia stock’s rally, as well as optimistic sentiment about the direction of the economy.

“Money continues to flow into the market, and not just in technology.”

IN ASIA

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed due to a public holiday in Japan, but the weakness of the yen leads to a 0.6% increase in futures contracts, the day after the Bank of Japan’s decision to end its rate policy negative interest.

In China, the Shanghai SSE Composite increased by 0.5% and the CSI 300 increased by 0.2%.

RATE

The yield on ten-year Treasuries continues to fall, to 4.2926%, after reaching a three-week high on Monday, as investors prepare for the conclusions of the latest Fed meeting.

CHANGES

The dollar gained 0.28% against a basket of reference currencies.

The euro is unchanged at 1.0865 dollars.

OIL

Oil prices are falling slightly, held back by the rise in the dollar and profit-taking after the recent rebound in prices.

The barrel of Brent fell 0.14% to 87.20 dollars and that of American light crude (WTI) lost 0.41% to 83.13 dollars.

(Written by Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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