by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – Wall Street is expected to rise on Friday and European stock markets are also in the green at mid-session, with markets gradually recovering from the recent distrust of risky assets thanks to the latest comments from central bankers and indicators considered encouraging.

New York index futures point to a 0.08% opening gain for the Dow Jones, 0.21% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 0.32% for the Nasdaq.

In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.47% to 7,280.99 points at around 11:20 GMT. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.37% and in London, the FTSE gained 0.48%.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.62%, the Eurozone’s EuroStoxx 50 0.34% and the Stoxx 600 0.65%.

Equity markets in Europe are driven in particular by basic resources (+1.48%) and the real estate sector (+2.09%), which allows the Stoxx 600 to head towards a fourth consecutive session in the green and to recover the losses suffered at the beginning of the week, when fears of a recession in the United States triggered a wave of sales of risky assets worldwide.

Over the week as a whole, the Stoxx 600 has gained 0.32% at this stage and the CAC 40 0.34%.

The positive trend is fueled by comments from several officials of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), such as Jeff Schmid and Thomas Barkin, who have expressed confidence that the slowdown in inflation would allow interest rate cuts to be made soon and a recession to be avoided.

U.S. jobless claims released Thursday also helped temper concerns about the labor market following the release of the official monthly employment report last week.

Ahead of more data from the U.S., including inflation figures due next Wednesday, money markets are pricing in a 54.5% chance that the Fed will cut rates by 50 basis points in September and expect two more cuts by the end of 2024, according to CME’s FedWatch barometer.

VALUES TO FOLLOW ON WALL STREET

Elf Beauty shares fell 8.9% before the opening. The group announced on Thursday that it expected full-year sales and profits to be below consensus.

Paramount Global climbed 6.3% premarket after reporting second-quarter revenue above consensus.

Take-Two Interactive Software is up 5.6% ahead of the open. The video game publisher said its net bookings are expected to grow in 2026 and 2027.

VALUES IN EUROPE

Eutelsat fell 0.6% after reporting weak outlook despite an increase in its annual revenue.

LEG Immobilien, one of Germany’s largest listed real estate groups, jumped nearly 5% after posting a second-quarter net loss smaller than a year earlier amid a slump in the sector.

Generali fell 1.77% after publishing its first-half results, which were marked by weak performance in the property and casualty (P&C) insurance segment.

RATE

Eurozone bond yields are on track to record a weekly gain, after several days of high volatility, a sign that calm has returned to the markets following the publication of economic data deemed reassuring.

The yield on the ten-year German Bund fell by 3.8 basis points on Friday to 2.231%, but is expected to gain 7 points over the week as a whole.

In the United States, the ten-year Treasury yield fell by 4.44 basis points to 3.9532% after a gain of around two points the day before.

CHANGES

The dollar index, which is around 103 points, reached its highest level in a week against other major currencies on Friday, thanks to the publication of weekly unemployment registration figures in the United States on Thursday, which calmed fears of an imminent economic slowdown.

The euro is stable at $1.0918, while the pound sterling is trading at $1.2746, also virtually unchanged.

OIL

Oil prices edged higher on Friday, heading for a weekly gain of more than 3% as demand fears recede.

Brent crude rose 0.29% to $79.36 per barrel and US light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) rose 0.33% to $76.46 per barrel.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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