by Mara Vilcu

(Reuters) – European scholarships finished in dispersed order on Wednesday, while diplomatic negotiations continue to end the conflict in Ukraine and investors are impatiently awaiting the symposium of the Federal Reserve (Fed) in Jackson Hole.

In Paris, CAC 40 lost 0.08% to 7,973.03 points. In Frankfurt, the Dax abandoned 0.60% and in London, the FTSE 100 rose 1.08%.

The Eurostoxx 50 index fell 0.21%, the FTSEUROFirst 300 won 0.25%and the Stoxx 600 advanced by 0.25%.

In this middle of the week, all eyes turned, once again, towards the geopolitical front.

Russia continued in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday to Wednesday its bombings on Ukraine, especially in the regions of Odessa and Soumy, while Americans and Europeans are working to preserve the diplomatic impulse of the multiple meetings organized since Friday in order to reach a possible peace agreement.

US President Donald Trump, who successively received Vladimir Putin on Friday and then Volodimir Zelensky and European leaders on Tuesday deployed American ground troops in Ukraine. However, he added that the United States could provide air support to Europeans as part of the security guarantees supposed to be provided to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement with Russia.

In addition to the geopolitical front, attention turns to the meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, which will be held from August 21 to 23.

The president of the FED Jerome Powell is expected to speak on Friday and his remarks will be scrutinized in order to obtain indications on monetary policy, even though investors anticipate a drop of 25 basic points of interest rates in September, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Recent economic data suggest that the economy has not yet fully felt the impact of customs duties and the strategists expect that persistent uncertainty tempers the optimism of the markets, leaving the S&P 500 reference index likely to finish the year just below its current levels, close to Records.

VALUES

The European technology compartment abandoned 0.51% in the wake of the withdrawal of major values in the sector the day before Wall Street, against the backdrop of fears surrounding government intervention in industry.

The Swiss specialist in health facilities Geberit fell 3.04% after the announcement of quarterly results in expectations in a difficult context for the construction industry in Europe.

In the process, other equipment manufacturers in the sector fell, such as Saint-Gobain (-3.13%), Schneider Electric (-3.45%) or Legrand (-2.32%) in Paris.

A Wall Street

Reinforcing concerns about the government’s interference in companies, sources have indicated that the Trump administration was planning to take holdings in electronic flea companies in exchange for subsidies for the Chips law, just a few weeks after signing unprecedented income sharing agreements with NVIDIA and AMD.

Nvidia’s quarterly financial results are expected on August 27. “The quarterly results of Nvidia, which will be published next week, now seem even more crucial than they were already,” observes Danni Hewson, responsible for financial analysis at Aj Bell.

At the end of the closing in Europe, exchanges at the New York Stock Exchange indicated a drop of 0.16% for the Dow Jones, 0.71% for the Standard & Poor’s 500 and 1.34% for the Nasdaq Composite.

The indicators of the day

Inflation in the euro area was maintained in July at the level of the 2% target of the European Central Bank (ECB), according to final Eurostat data published on Wednesday.

Consumer prices in Great Britain increased by 3.8% over a year in July, according to data published Wednesday by the National Statistics Office (ONS).

Changes

The dollar drops Wednesday after US President Donald Trump asked for the resignation of the Fed Lisa Cook governor, while investors are waiting for the speech of the president of the Fed Jerome Powell on Friday to obtain indices on interest rate policy.

The dollar loses 0.11% against a basket of reference currencies.

The euro earns 0.13% to $ 1.1661.

RATE

American yields are in small downstream of the Jackson Hole symposium.

The yield of Treasuries at ten years abandons 1.3 base points at 4.2887%. The two years fell from 2.7 base points to 3.7269%.

The yield of the German Bund at ten years fell from 3.8 base points to 2.7158%. The two years abandoned 2.7 base points at 1.9328%.

OIL

Oil prices are climbing, following a higher weekly drop than expected from American gross stocks, and while investors are waiting for negotiations aimed at putting an end to the war in Ukraine, sanctions on Russian oil remaining for the moment.

Brent advances 1.38% to 66.70 dollars per barrel and American brut (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) takes 1.3% at 63.16 dollars.

To follow on August 21:

(Some data may accuse a slight offset)

(Written by Mara Vîlcu, edited by Kate Entringer)

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