by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets are expected to be on an undecided note on Thursday with numerous company publications planned before and after the session, as well as economic indicators in the United States.

According to the first available indications, the Parisian CAC 40 should lose 0.15% at the opening. The Dax in Frankfurt could fall 0.26%, while the FTSE 100 in London is expected to drop 0.07%. The EuroStoxx 50 index is expected to fall by 0.22%.

Among the companies likely to drive discussions, particularly in luxury, banking, health, industry and new technologies, are Hermès, Airbus, BNP Paribas, Sanofi, Pernod Ricard, Deutsche Bank, AstraZeneca, BASF, Microsoft , Intel, Alphabet and American Airlines.

Meta Platforms plunged 15% in after-hours trading after announcing Wednesday evening that artificial intelligence was costing it more and lower revenues.

On the microeconomic side, the Commerce Department will publish at 12:30 GMT the first estimate of American gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter. The day before, a statistic showed that deliveries of basic capital goods had rebounded by 0.2% and that orders for durable goods had increased by 2.6% in March, a sign of the resilience of the economy American despite the Fed’s rate hike. The Reuters consensus forecasts US GDP growth of 2.4% annually over the first three months of 2024.

Such dynamics should not encourage the Fed, which meets from April 30 to May 1, to quickly reduce its key rates while the monthly PCE price index in the United States, the preferred measure of inflation by the central bank , will be known on Friday.

A WALL STREET

The New York Stock Exchange ended a volatile session on Wednesday in disorganized order and with slight variations, shared between the rise in bond yields, solid quarterly results from companies in various sectors and the publications expected this week from certain digital heavyweights. .

The Dow Jones index fell 0.11%, or 42.77 points, to 38,460.92 points.

The broader S&P-500 modestly gained 1.08 points, or 0.02%, to 5,071.63 points.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 16.11 points (0.10%) to 15,712.75 points.

A record $70 billion auction of five-year Treasury notes helped push up bond market yields and weigh on stocks.

Investors also have company results in mind and the week is marked by publications from certain digital giants, whose titles strongly influence the trend.

Tesla, another heavyweight on the market, jumped 12% with the announcement of the acceleration of the launch of new models at more affordable prices.

IN ASIA

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei index fell by 2.02% to 37,684.41 points, penalized by technology stocks such as Tokyo Electron (-3.68%), Advantest (-2.08%) and SoftBank Group ( -1.73%) in the wake of Meta’s disappointing forecasts. The broader Topix lost 1.64% to 2,666.21 points.

The MSCI index bringing together stocks from Asia and the Pacific (excluding Japan) lost 0.7%.

In China, the Shanghai SSE Composite gained 0.17% and the CSI 300 increased by 0.19%.

EXCHANGES/RATES

The dollar is almost stable (-0.02%) against a basket of reference currencies, moving away from a nearly two-week low hit on Wednesday.

The euro advanced 0.09%, to 1.0707 dollars, while the pound sterling traded at 1.2466 dollars (0.04%).

The Japanese currency continues to collapse, to 155.71 yen to the dollar, as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) begins a two-day monetary policy meeting.

The yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds is virtually unchanged on Thursday, at 4.6481%, after increasing by six basis points the day before.

OIL

Oil prices varied little on Thursday, with investors divided between the drop in fuel demand in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer, and fears of worsening tensions in the Middle East.

Brent fell 0.19% to $88.19 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) fell 0.16% to $82.94.

(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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