Selling will be imposed on the European stock markets. The DAX is trading sideways at 15,619.45 points. The FTSE -100 fell 0.3% to above 7,903.45 points, the CAC-40 opened down 0.15% to above 7,313.75 points, the Eurostoxx 50 opened at 4,283.35 points, during the FTSE MiB remains unchanged at 27,936 points. The IBEX 35 fell 0.21% to open at 9,446 points.
At corporate level CreditSuisse has delayed the release of its annual report after the SEC raised questions about cash flow in 2020 and 2019. The banknotes called the SEC late Wednesday to clarify these points. The bank announced that the results for 2022 already published on February 9 are not affected. In February, Credit Suisse reported its biggest annual loss since the 2008 global financial crisis after clients withdrew billions from the bank, and warned of a “significant” new loss this year.
Vivendi lost 1,010 million in 2022 because it stopped including Telecom Italia in its accounts. Excluding Telecom Italia, the group would have posted a profit of 677 million, up 19.4% from 2021. Adjusted operating income (EBITA) rose 35.6% to 868 million, it added. Vivendi has one week to convince the European Commission to buy Lagardere.
INSIDE will sell its Romanian operations to the Greek authorities for €1.26 billion as part of its plan to deleverage and focus on cleaner energy.
Investors will keep an eye on ASML Holding. The Dutch government joins the United States in imposing new restrictions on semiconductor technology exports to protect national security. ASML has already said it needs to apply for licenses, but that won’t affect its forecasts for this year.
At the macro level In Europe, France’s non-farm payrolls stand out. In the United States we will know the new jobless claims and the natural gas reserves.
The performances of Powell and Lagarde have the markets in doubt. The President of the Federal Reserve partially put into perspective the previous day’s aggressive messages: rHe reiterated his message that there would be more and possibly faster rate hikes, but stressed that the debate was still open and the decision depended on the data to be released ahead of the monetary policy meeting in two weeks. The fact that Powell did not expect the FOMC to hike rates by another 50 basis points after raising “only” 25 basis points at its early February meeting has prompted some modest easing in both bond and equity markets during yesterday’s session. “The question now for many investors is whether both the Fed and the ECB will be able to keep the major developed economies out of recession in the medium term, or whether, on the contrary, they will aim for a recessionary scenario as a formula against high inflation. In the coming months, this “more than reasonable doubt” will be the one that will determine “for better or for worse” the behavior of the various financial markets: currencies, bonds and stocks,” they admit in Link Securities.
Investors are now turning their attention to February jobs data, due out tomorrow Friday, to confirm whether continued job growth will support further rate hikes. Forecasts point to an increase of 205,000 non-farm payrolls, a more modest number than in January when more than 500,000 were hired.
Wall Street futures down
After a mixed close on Wall Street, futures on Wall Street are trading lower at this point. The Dow Jones futures remain unchanged at 32,770.20 points S&P500 it returns 0.14% to 3,986.40 points while the NASDAQ 100 returns 0.2% to 12,181.50 points.
Also mixed signs today in the major Asian indices. The Nikkei is up 0.6%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 0.3% and the Shanghai Composite is trading sideways.
EUR/USD is up 0.10% to hit $1.0554, while Bitcoin is trading down 1.4% above 21,689 points in the cryptocurrency market.
Oil prices are holding steady as larger-than-expected falls in US crude stockpiles and hopes for Chinese demand collided with concerns that a more aggressive hike in US interest rates by the Fed could slow economic growth and reduce oil consumption. Brent oil futures lost 0.19% to above $82.48, while West Texas fell 0.10% to above $76.58.