European stocks open sharply lower

(ABM FN-Dow Jones) European shares will open sharply lower on Friday on fears of a new Corona variant, although volumes are likely to be lower as Wall Street faces a shorter trading day the day after Thanksgiving.

IG expects an opening loss of 270 points for the German DAX on Friday, a loss of 113 points for the French CAC 40 and a drop of 121 points for the British FTSE 100.

A new type of coronavirus has been discovered in South Africa and appears to be mutating more quickly, which carries additional risks. The World Health Organization is meeting today to discuss this South African alternative.

Stock markets in Europe closed higher on Thursday. It was a quiet trading day, with no rushes from Wall Street.

Investors were mainly interested in Germany, where a new government is taking shape, according to analyst Michael Hewson of CMC Markets, and the Corona situation in Europe.

For now, the eyes are mainly focused on the Corona measures that will be announced to get through this winter, according to Ima Sammani of Monex Europe.

A small bright spot is that a coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech received positive advice in the European Union on Thursday about giving it to children aged 5 to 11.

And on the economic docket, there were figures for the German economy, which grew by 1.7 percent in the third quarter, where it had been expected at 1.8 percent. German Consumer Confidence for December fell below zero as expected.

The minutes from the latest European Central Bank policy meeting contained little excitement. The European Central Bank expects a further rise in inflation for the rest of the year and believes that it will take longer for prices to fall than previously thought.

Reports also show that the European Central Bank expects inflation to be moderate during 2022. Looking ahead, inflation in the medium term will fall below the central bank’s 2% target.

company news

Italian insurance company Generali wants to strengthen its position in France by acquiring insurance company La Medicale from French banking group Credit Agricole. The two companies said they had exclusive talks about the matter late on Wednesday night. Generali and Crédit Agricole closed slightly lower.

Remy Cointreau saw its profit double in the first six months. The stock rose more than 13 percent in Paris. In CAC 40, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield emerged with 3 percent. ArcelorMittal was the biggest loser with a 1% loss.

In Frankfurt, RWE did well, with an increase of about 7 percent, while E.ON gained 2.5 percent. Delivery Hero lost nearly 4 percent and Zalando lost more than 2 percent at DAX.

Euro Stoxx 50 4293.24 (+0.4%)
Stokes Europe 600481.72 (+0.4%)
DAX 15.917.98 (+0.3%)
CAC 40 7075.87 (+0.5%)
FTSE 100 7,310.37 (+0.3%)
SMI 12,449.68 (+0.4%)
AEX 807.55 (+0.6%)
BEL 20 4,237.54 (+0.8%)
FTSE MIB 27.098.83 (-0.04%)
IBEX 35 8.840.90 (+0.6%)

US property rights

Wall Street opened lower on Friday, according to US futures. It’s Black Friday and so the stock exchanges in New York are open until 19:00 Dutch time.

On Thursday, the trading floors of Wall Street remained empty. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. So the previous day was a busy day on a macro level.

Much attention has been paid to inflation figures and the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s recent policy meeting. Both suggest that the Fed may have to raise interest rates sooner than expected.

The chance of a rate hike in May is now more than 50 percent, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. That was down 50 percent earlier this week.

S&P 500 4,701.46 (+0.2% – close position Wednesday)
Dow Jones 35,804.38 (-0.03% – close Wednesday)
Nasdaq Composite 15845.23 (+0.4% – close on Wednesday)

Asia

Asian stocks fell sharply on Friday. The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus variant in South Africa has investors in Asia shivering this morning. In Japan, the Nikkei lost about 3 percent, while the stock market index in Hong Kong and Sydney lost nearly 2 percent. Oil prices are also down about 3 percent this morning. Interest rates are also under pressure.

Nikkei 225 28.678.81 (-2.8%)
Shanghai Composite 3.564.70 (-0.5%)
Hang Seng 24172.45 (-2.3%)

Evaluation

The EUR/USD is trading at 1.1222 this morning. At the close of European markets on Thursday, the currency pair moved at 1.1215.

USD/JPY Yen 114.64
EUR / USD EUR 1,1222
128.65 EUR / JPY

Macro schedule:
08:45 Consumer Confidence – November (Fra)
10:00 Money Show – October (Euro)
19:00 Wall Street closed earlier on Black Friday

Company news:
There are no items on the agenda

Pron: ABM Financial News

From Beursplein 5, Editors ABM Financial News Keep a close eye on developments on the stock exchanges, and the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in particular. The information in this column is not intended as professional investment advice or as a recommendation to make certain investments.